Border agents probably didnโt expect the human-smuggling suspect to jump on his horseโs back when they asked him to take the animal out of a trailer so they could search it.
Agents at a Border Patrol checkpoint around Three Points, about 25 miles southwest of Tucson, pulled over Gustavo Martinez-Sanchez, a 35-year-old U.S. citizen, after a canine alerted agents on Saturday, Jan. 28, according to a court document.
Agents had already been notified about the 2012 Dodge Ram containing bundles of hay and towing a horse trailer. Surveillance technology had seen the truck loaded with hay turn onto La Osa Ranch Road in Sasabe and come out 40 minutes later with the hay bales still intact, says the document, filed in federal court in Tucson on Monday.
The following account of the incident is alleged in the court record:
Martinez, who said he lives in Willcox, told the agents he was coming from a ranch in Sasabe but didnโt know the ranchโs name.
The trailer he was pulling had hay bundles filling the front half and a horse in the back half. Agents asked Martinez to take the horse out so they could inspect the bundles. He agreed and while unloading the horse, he jumped on its back and began to flee. There was a short pursuit, and agents caught up to Martinez and apprehended him.
Agents took the hay out of the trailer and found four people hidden in a compartment underneath. They found three more people in a concealed compartment under hay bales in the back of the truck. The seven people were all undocumented.
Martinez told officials he had successfully smuggled people before, the court record says. In this case, he said someone was paying him $2,700 per person to pick up seven undocumented people in Sasabe.
He was in contact through WhatsApp with someone who gave him directions where to go, he said. He had picked up the seven people at Rancho de la Osa and hid them in the vehicle before going through the checkpoint. He had instructions to take three people to Tucson and four to Phoenix.
Officials arrested Martinez on suspicion of transporting undocumented people for profit.
After the incident, at least two of the migrants were charged with the crime of re-entry into the U.S. after being removed at least once before, the court record says.
A majority of cases filed in Tucsonโs federal court are on human smuggling charges and re-entry charges. The day the complaint against Martinez was filed there were at about five cases related to human smuggling and 23 re-entry cases filed.
Sky Island Alliance Border Wildlife Study got videos of animals reacting to Arizonaโs temporary border barrier.ย
