CBP: Multiple cases of suspected child smuggling and trafficking reported near Coachella Valley
Disturbing details are emerging from the U.S. Border Patrol as multiple cases of suspected child smuggling and trafficking were discovered near the Coachella Valley.
News Channel 3 anchor Karen Devine spoke with Gregory Bovino, the chief Border Patrol agent from the El Centro Sector about how they were able to determine three young children were in trouble in the last two weeks and get them to safety.
Bovino said, “Sometimes we encounter criminal actions so horrendous they defy human decency.”
He’s referring to the case of a four-year-old child given sleep aids so he couldn’t call for his mother or speak to agents.
“We tried to wake the child up. The child had a lot of difficulty waking up. Our agents actually had to perform what is known as a sternum rub to actually bring that child to consciousness. We knew something was a miss at that point. We ended up taking the child to the hospital to have the child checked out, and then we arrested the smuggler for smuggling an undocumented person into the United States.”
The case happened in Indio on September 13. The smuggler also had many birth certificates in the vehicle.
According to Bovino, they are seeing these cases consistently.
Tonight at 10 p.m. on Fox and 11 p.m. on News Channel 3, Karen Devine will tell you about another arrest just last week at the Indio checkpoint where two young boys ages 4 & 8 were rescued.
