On January 20, Border Patrol agents from the El Centro Sector disrupted a criminal operation that intended to utilize a Cessna airplane as a means to smuggle illegal aliens out of the Imperial Valley.

The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m., when Border Patrol agents conducting surveillance near Imperial, Calif., arrested three illegal aliens after they were dropped off in a vehicle at the Imperial County Airport and attempted to board a Cessna airplane waiting on the runway.

The pilot, a U.S. citizen, was placed under arrest for suspected alien smuggling. In addition, Border Patrol agents seized the Cessna airplane.

Since fiscal year 2010, the El Centro Sector Border Patrol has seized four airplanes in connection with alien smuggling.