Border Patrol seizes mobile ramp system used by smugglers

Wednesday December 18, 2002

BOULEVARD, Calif. (AP) Border Patrol agents on Wednesday discovered a mobile ramp that smugglers were using to drive vehicles over a fence separating the United States from Mexico.

Agents patrolling the border near Boulevard, 60 miles east of San Diego, spotted a small sport utility vehicle drive up to the Mexican side of the 6-foot fence early Wednesday morning.

When agents approached, two occupants fled on foot.

More than 266 pounds of marijuana were found in the vehicle. A short distance away, agents also found the metal mobile ramp that extended up over the fence and down onto U.S. soil.

The Border Patrol said it's not clear how many times the ramp had been used in the past.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)