U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol agents from the Blaine Sector arrested four people from East India for reportedly attempting to illegally cross the border from Canada into Whatcom County Monday, Oct. 4.
"Utilizing advanced drone technology, Blaine Sector Agents respond to cross border threats," Blaine Sector Chief Patrol Agent David BeMiller wrote in a tweet posted Wednesday, Oct. 6. "Two nights ago, Blaine Agents apprehended four subjects who illegally crossed the border."
The arrests occurred in the Blaine Station area of operation, Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Jason Givens told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
The four people were found to be from East India, and had no outstanding warrants, Givens reported. They were transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.
Drone video included in BeMiller's tweet appears to show four people walking through an open field and then hiding near a road. A fifth person then walks along the road, before a vehicle and additional people appear.
The arrests come a week after BeMiller reported four others for illegal crossings in a pair of Blaine Sector incidents in late September.
The Border Patrol reports that its Blaine Sector had 227 encounters during Fiscal Year 2020 (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30), which was less than half the 524 apprehensions it had during Fiscal Year 2019. That decrease was consistent with what the Border Patrol saw nationwide last year.
