Douglas, Ariz. — Yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Douglas port arrested a Phoenix man who was wanted in two states for failing to register as a sex offender.
The 34-year-old U.S. citizen from Phoenix attempted to enter the U.S. through the Douglas port pedestrian processing area. During the initial screening process, CBP officers discovered the man was convicted in November 2002 in Seattle for three counts of Rape of a Child. Records check also revealed the man had multiple warrants for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender and for Escape of Community Custody. The man was taken into custody and turned over to the Douglas Police Department for extradition.
Since launching the Southwest Border Initiative in March 2009, unprecedented shifts in staffing and infrastructure at the ports of Arizona have brought a higher level of focus and intensity to their operations. These shifts have resulted in higher narcotics interceptions and tougher outbound enforcement operations yielding record illicit currency, weapons, and wanted felon interceptions.
A criminal complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection 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.
