In a surprising and significant enforcement action, the El Centro Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducted a three-day operation in and around Kern County.
The big picture: The operation, dubbed “Return to Sender” focused on on intercepting individuals violating U.S. federal laws, stopping drug trafficking, and disrupting transportation routes used by Transnational Criminal Organizations.
- “Operation Return to Sender” resulted in the arrest of 78 individuals unlawfully present in the U.S. The arrests included people from Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador, Mexico, and China.
Diving deep: Among those arrested, the operation managed to secure illegal immigrants with significant criminal history:
- One individual was identified as a convicted sex offender with a prior conviction for raping an 8-year-old girl.
- Another had an active warrant from the Visalia Sheriff’s Department for a sex offense against a child.
- One arrestee was wanted for being a felon in possession of a weapon in Tulare County; he was turned over to Kern County Sheriff’s Department for extradition, with a detainer placed for federal charges to ensure deportation.
- The operation also led to significant drug seizures, including three separate incidents where 33.01 lbs, 3.1 lbs, and 30.7 grams of marijuana were confiscated, alongside four methamphetamine seizures totaling 7.1 grams.
- Several of those arrested had multiple DUI convictions, some with hit-and-run and injury enhancements. Other criminal histories of the detainees included charges like failure to appear, tampering with a vehicle, petty theft, felony drug possession, vandalism, burglary, inflicting injury on a spouse, and child abuse.
What they’re saying: “The El Centro Sector takes all border threats seriously. Our area of responsibility stretches from the U.S./Mexico Border, north, as mission and threat dictate, all the way to the Oregon line,” Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino said in a statement
