Smugglers' SUV gets stuck atop Calif. border fence
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Suspected smugglers who tried to use ramps to drive an SUV over a 14-foot-tall border fence had to abandon their plan when the Jeep became stuck on top of the barrier, authorities said Wednesday.
Agents patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border near the Imperial Sand Dunes in California's southeast corner spotted the Jeep Cherokee teetering atop the fence early Tuesday, Border Patrol spokesman Spencer Tippets said. The vehicle was perched about five miles west of the Colorado River and the Arizona state line.
Two smugglers on the Mexican side of the border were trying to free the Jeep when the agents approached, Tippets said. They ran further into Mexico and escaped.
The Jeep was empty, but agents said it was probably filled with contraband like bales of marijuana before it got high-centered atop the fence.
The smugglers had built ramps to drive up and over the fence, something that has been tried at least once before. In April 2011, agents found a truck that had ramps built onto it and had driven up to the border fence. A pickup had driven up and over the fence, but it was spotted and its occupants were captured, Tippets said.
The agency's Yuma sector has seen a 95 percent reduction in human smuggling in recent years, freeing up agents to focus on drug smugglers.
"Because of how successful we are we don't have all the clutter like we had in years past," Tippets said. "Now that all the clutter is gone, we're able to focus on things that are bigger threats."
The terrain in western Arizona and eastern California has little vegetation and is much less rugged than the land in southeastern Arizona, so smugglers have a harder time making it into the U.S. without being spotted.
Agents patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border near the Imperial Sand Dunes in California's southeast corner spotted the Jeep Cherokee teetering atop the fence early Tuesday, Border Patrol spokesman Spencer Tippets said. The vehicle was perched about five miles west of the Colorado River and the Arizona state line.
Two smugglers on the Mexican side of the border were trying to free the Jeep when the agents approached, Tippets said. They ran further into Mexico and escaped.
The Jeep was empty, but agents said it was probably filled with contraband like bales of marijuana before it got high-centered atop the fence.
The smugglers had built ramps to drive up and over the fence, something that has been tried at least once before. In April 2011, agents found a truck that had ramps built onto it and had driven up to the border fence. A pickup had driven up and over the fence, but it was spotted and its occupants were captured, Tippets said.
The agency's Yuma sector has seen a 95 percent reduction in human smuggling in recent years, freeing up agents to focus on drug smugglers.
"Because of how successful we are we don't have all the clutter like we had in years past," Tippets said. "Now that all the clutter is gone, we're able to focus on things that are bigger threats."
The terrain in western Arizona and eastern California has little vegetation and is much less rugged than the land in southeastern Arizona, so smugglers have a harder time making it into the U.S. without being spotted.
I've seen this movie before; the truck would have been transferred to Good 'ol Boy bubba of the civil militia who would drive it unmolested past all the border patrols without being molested and the funds from the methamphetamine sales would be used to buy more good 'ol boy guns and doughnuts while the principle is used to support GOP candidates via GOP super-pas that don't have to report the sources of their funding.
You sound like you're one of their best customers.
definitly not the biggest bud in the kilo!
You might be a cuello rojo................
yo estoyo cuello rojo.....and yes, I appreciate the humor....here's your sign.
and everyone wonders why I live in and love good 'ol Arizona.....stuff like this that makes one smile.....
WOOHOO! My state struck offbeat gold!
Could be we're jumping to conclusions here. Â Maybe they heard that Jeep was shifting its operations to China and thought now was the time to resell their vehicle.
Confiscate it, paint it green, and use it to patrol that area with.
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(I'm thinking it's probably stolen from the USA in the first place though)
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 @negativerep It's more than likely a POS
Here's how it was supposed to work.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2flY58vDlIw
@Kushfan  I practice that manuever all the time.
Yeah, but can you do this?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5zctsN-RVA
@Kushfan  You mean play the piano like that....No
Dumba-s-s should have died. People that drive like that on a hwy with other people are some of the stupidist people alive!
You're my hero.
Practice makes perfect.
No engineers in this lot.
Biden and Clinton said that Obama's first car was a Jeep. Did they get it wrong?
Not the brightest bulbs in the smuggling racket. That's for sure ......
 @shadowwalkerÂ
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And, clearly you assume they were the first to do this....
@Icarus @shadowwalker How on earth does shadowwalker's statement support your's?
I mean, you know, "clearly"?
Hey remember when these invasive paristes using the old Roman sling shots to send their drugs into the US?.....lets show them love and compassion when they are urn deported.
 @FreerideNOT Couldn't we just use those same sling shots to deport them?
"incoming"!
@iamtroglodite FOOOMP! Watcheleeeeee
Run Forrest, Run!
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Bwaaaaah, haaaa, haaaaa.....Â
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10 pts on the idea....
-15 on the application.Â
Even if the ramps didn't work, it must have taken awhile to set all this up and get the Jeep up to the top. Someone on the US side must have been helping set up those ramps. Then after it got stuck on top, whatever was in the vehicle was unloaded and carted away. All this would have taken more than a few minutes. So, where was the Border Patrol through all of this? Have their numbers been reduced to the point that there aren't enough to adequately patrol the border?
 @Nobody "their numbers been reduced to the point that there aren't enough to adequately patrol the border?"
There never have been enough and if the Fed Govt proceeds in it's current 'everything is ok, la-la-la' way, there never will be enough to seriously patrol and secure the border.
Jeep an American Icon!
@swede760 I look at this as an opportunity to top the "If You Can Read this....Roll Me Over" bumpersticker.....
@swede760 .....built elsewhere.
LOL! OK, so now hoist it on down and sell it for them! Take the money and apply it towards what it costs to keep a patrol there along the border.
They just say "smugglers", so could be Americans...Â
@RandyH ....yeah, that's it. Americans are smuggling drugs into Mexico. Pay attention.
"probably filled with contraban".
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Hasn't it been checked yet? It "probably" is filled with cat treats, or Peeps. Yeah, lets just say it's "probably" filled with drugs. What a stupid thing to say.
@Jamie Don't you know the astronomical street value of peeps....sheesh....
I vote for Peeps
I prefer the blue gummie bears
 @Jamie As in nearly all things journalistic.. 'consider the source' (this is an AP article incidentally).
Gee, do we have a perfect example of none to bright mexican illegals trying to bring their poison into the US, to further destroy our society. To bad they did not make it in and be eligible for urn deportation and so they could be returned to the big garbage dump...yes Flippy Calderone refers to the country he was president of as having the worlds largest garbage dump....I am sure he meant the whole country
Must be grads from Tijuana Tech.
You did mean "Marijuana Tech", right?
Tomato, Tomato music
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@beernpizza That depends on whether you are using catsup or ketchup
Is that tomayto or tomahto?