SAN DIEGO—A 4-year-old child was dropped into the United States from a high border wall with Mexico in a surveillance video that captures a routine—and highly risky—occurrence. “Remarkably, the child is ok!” Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz wrote on Twitter in his caption to the agency’s one-minute, 37-second video, which was posted on Twitter May…

SAN DIEGO—U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) San Diego field office announced this week that the total amount of narcotics seized at Southern California ports of entry this past fiscal year decreased from the previous year. The statistics released this week accounted for drugs seized through Sept. 30 at the San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate,…

SAN DIEGO—Federal authorities said Aug. 11 that fentanyl trafficking and drug seizures are on the rise in the San Diego region, which they described as “an epicenter” of fentanyl trafficking into the United States. Law enforcement in San Diego and Imperial counties seized 5,091 pounds of fentanyl from October of 2021 to this June, which…

SAN DIEGO—A so-called “drug tourism” may be fueling a new HIV outbreak in Tijuana, unabated by the COVID-19 closure of the international border, the University of California–San Diego School of Medicine researchers announced on Feb. 11 at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infection. Specifically, the researchers found that the HIV incidence rate among people who…

SAN DIEGO—A man who injured several Border Patrol agents by ramming their vehicles on a state highway near Jamul while he was smuggling 10 migrants has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison, prosecutors said on Feb. 9. Juan Francisco Sanchez-Campos, 24, of Phoenix, pleaded guilty to speeding through a Border Patrol…

SAN DIEGO—Enforcement of the “Remain in Mexico” program, which keeps asylum seekers in Mexico while they await their immigration court hearings across the border, was expanded Jan. 4 to San Diego. The policy officially termed “Migrant Protection Protocols” was ended last summer by the new administration, but was reinstated following a federal judge’s order that…

SAN DIEGO—Authorities have arrested 27 suspected thieves and made 21 additional arrests during a weeklong siege against organized retail theft and highway violence, it was announced Dec. 14. California Highway Patrol (CHP) investigators worked with 10 retail partners in San Diego and Orange counties “to combat organized retail theft issues plaguing the state,” said Juan…

SAN DIEGO—Dignitaries from both sides of the border gathered Monday morning, Nov. 8, at the San Ysidro Port of Entry to commemorate the occasion of reopening the international U.S.-Mexico border for non-essential travel for those fully vaccinated. “After much anticipation and advocacy, I’m thankful the day is finally here to celebrate cross-border travel resuming,” said…

SAN DIEGO—Dignitaries from both sides of the border gathered Monday morning, Nov. 8, at the San Ysidro Port of Entry to commemorate the occasion of reopening the international U.S.-Mexico border for non-essential travel for those fully vaccinated. “After much anticipation and advocacy, I’m thankful the day is finally here to celebrate cross-border travel resuming,” said…