Federal prosecutors in the United States filed 126 border-related cases this week, including charges for bringing in undocumented migrants for financial gain, reentering the country after deportation and importing controlled substances.
One of the most striking arrests involved a U.S. citizen identified as Ulises Gallardo, who was taken into custody Feb. 27 and accused of smuggling migrants for profit.
According to the criminal complaint, Gallardo attempted to enter the United States in a vehicle through the San Ysidro Port of Entry when agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducted an inspection.
During the search, officers discovered what appeared to be a human foot protruding from the vehicle’s gas tank.
Agents removed the rear seats and carpeting and found an access panel cut into the vehicle’s metal floor, sealed with what appeared to be weld marks.
Inside the compartment, authorities discovered a woman lying in gasoline inside a non-factory fuel tank modification, according to federal prosecutors.
“She was disoriented and appeared to have chemical burns on her legs and feet,” the complaint states.
The woman, a Mexican citizen without legal authorization to enter the United States, was transported to a hospital for treatment. She later told agents she had been inside the fuel tank compartment for about 90 minutes, sweating heavily and soaked in gasoline.
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According to her account, gasoline fumes made her extremely dizzy, and she said it felt as if she were “burning alive,” but she could not escape because she was completely trapped inside the compartment.
In a separate case the same day, authorities arrested José Ángel Vidal Ayala, a Mexican citizen who was intercepted north of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry with a group of undocumented migrants.
Another arrest followed on March 3, when authorities detained U.S. citizen Benny Jesús Niz Ledezma. Investigators say officers discovered seven packages containing about 8.6 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a concealed compartment behind the radio of a vehicle.
