| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Trend at San Diego-Tijuana border crossing sees ambulances involved in human smuggling |
| 2025-07-12 |
| [SDUT] Shades of Hamas smuggling fighters in Red Thingy vehicles! Assistant U.S. attorney says her office 'very concerned' given public safety ramifications and how such criminal conduct could harm patients with legitimate healthcare needs At least four foreign nationals have tried within the last month to unlawfully enter the U.S. through the San Ysidro Port of Entry using ambulances as cover and posing as patients in need of urgent medical attention, according to court documents in four federal criminal cases. In the most recent case, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a Mexican ambulance driver on suspicion of human smuggling for financial gain, court records showed. Federal prosecutors said the use of ambulances in unlawful-entry and human-smuggling attempts appeared to be a new and particularly troubling trend. "We’re very concerned about it, given the public safety ramifications," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer McCullough said Wednesday. "(CBP) officers have to be on the lookout for this now," which she said could cause delays for ambulance patients with "a true medical emergency." McCullough, who is the deputy chief of the intake section, which handles reactive prosecutions for crimes such as drug and human smuggling at the border, said the use of ambulances for human smuggling is something "we just started seeing a couple weeks ago." According to CBP, however, using ambulances as cover for illegal crossings is not a novel tactic, but rather one of the many creative ways that smugglers and migrants have used for years to try to avoid detection. |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #1 Federal prosecutors said the use of ambulances in unlawful-entry and human-smuggling attempts appeared to be a new and particularly troubling trend. "New trend" here, but not in Gaza. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2025-07-12 13:13 |