Cloned Border Patrol Vehicle Seized at Border in California

El Centro Sector agents operating a remote video surveillance system observed what they believed to be a cloned Border Patrol vehicle. Agents responded to the area and engaged in a pursuit.

El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino tweeted photos of a Chevrolet Tahoe with a fake U.S. Border Patrol livery. The vehicle also did not have emergency lights.

#Truchacoyote #USBP El Centro agents assigned to the Remote Video Surveillance System recognized a #cloned #BorderPatrol vehicle while scanning for traffic Sunday night. Agents apprehended the subject and #seized the vehicle after a brief pursuit. Amazing work! #vigilance pic.twitter.com/myfRsCmr3Q

— USBP Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino (@USBPChiefELC) September 26, 2022

Agents responded to the area after being notified of the suspicious vehicle by remote camera. The driver fled the scene and engaged the agents in a short pursuit.

The agents arrested the driver and seized the counterfeit vehicle.

It is not clear from the tweet if the vehicle was engaged in drug or human smuggling at the time.

While not a common occurrence, this it not the first time agents found cloned Border Patrol and other emergency vehicles used by smugglers. As far back as 2015, smugglers utilized a fake Border Patrol vehicle, Breitbart Texas reported. Laredo Sector agents found the vehicle near Cotulla, Texas, approximately 65 miles from the border with Mexico.

Tucson Sector agents found ten more migrants being smuggled in a cloned patrol vehicle. In this case, the driver also appeared to be wearing the uniform of a federal agent.

Smugglers also utilize other official-looking vehicles in attempts to sneak their cargo into the U.S. interior.

Last month, Douglas Station agents in the Tucson Sector found a fake fire department vehicle smuggling migrants near the border wall.

Smugglers also used a stolen EMS vehicle in August 2018 to attempt to sneak a load of migrants through the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint on U.S. Highway 281 in Brooks County, Texas.