see also: in December 2005 Press Releases:   New SENTRI/Dedicated Commuter Lane to Open at Calexico/Mexicali Port of Entry Thursday   CBP Border Patrol Agents Arrest Homicide Suspect   CBP Border Patrol Agent Saves Two Mexican Nationals From Drowning   U.S. Joins Revised World Customs Organization Convention   One Ton of Marijuana Seized at Nogales Port of Entry   CBP Border Patrol Seizes Over a Ton of Marijuana ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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HIDALGO, TEXAS -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers working at the Hidalgo port of entry arrested an Oregon woman for alien smuggling on Tuesday. They also nabbed a man who attempted to enter the Pharr port by making a false claim to U.S. citizenship only hours after trying the same ruse at the nearby Hidalgo crossing. Finally, CBP officers also apprehended two men who were trying to smuggle 9.9 pounds of cocaine and 11.5 pounds of methamphetamine through the south Texas port.

The alien smuggling case occurred when 30-year-old Elisabet Flores-Lomas of Hermiston, Oregon, arrived at the port along with two other adult women and five children. The driver of the 2003 Ford Expedition claimed that 3 of the 5 kids were her children and born in the U.S. CBP officers referred the vehicle for a secondary exam to determine the citizenship of the children. Flores-Lomas then admitted that the children, two boys who were 3 and 5, and a 7-year-old girl, were actually Mexican citizens. She was intending to transport them to their father, who is residing illegally in Austin.

Flores-Lomas was arrested on alien smuggling charges. She is scheduled to make her initial appearance before a federal magistrate Thursday. The three Mexican children were turned over to Mexican immigration personnel. The other four people in the car were admissible U.S. citizens and entered the U.S. without incident.

“The hard working and diligent CBP workforce at the Hidalgo port of entry have stopped numerous child smuggling attempts in recent days,” said David Higgerson, CBP Port Director, Hidalgo/Pharr. “History has shown that child smuggling activity will become even more common following the holiday period as families attempt to return to the United States after spending time in Mexico.”

In addition to the child smuggling case, CBP officers at the Pharr port of entry are also pursuing felony charges against a man who attempted to illegally enter the U.S. twice on the same day by making a false claim to U.S. citizenship at different border crossings. The apprehension was made shortly after 40-year-old Mexican citizen Carlos Hugo Quintana Rojas arrived at the Pharr port near midnight. A CBP officer was checking his immigration status via a computer database and learned that he had attempted to illegally enter at the nearby Hidalgo crossing earlier in the day.

CBP officers did confirm that Quintana Rojas was the same person who made a false claim to U.S. citizenship earlier at the Hidalgo crossing. He was arrested on the felony immigration violation and is scheduled to make an initial appearance before a federal magistrate on Thursday.

“The skill of the CBP officers’ interview techniques combined with the assistance of high technology made this apprehension possible,” said Higgerson. “Would be violators should take note that trying same illegal act at two different ports of entry is not going to work.”

Finally, CBP officers at the Hidalgo port also seized 9.9 pounds of cocaine and 11.5 pounds of methamphetamine at approximately 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday. The drugs were discovered in a 2001 Ford Focus after a gamma-ray scan of the car revealed an anomaly in the appearance of the front bumper. CBP officers initiated an intensive inspection of the vehicle. They removed a total of 11 cocaine-filled packages and 6 methamphetamine filled bundles from a bumper compartment. The 21-year-old male driver from Houston and a 21-year-old male passenger from Chattanooga were arrested by ICE special agents in connection with the failed smuggling attempt.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control, and protection of our Nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.