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Border Agents Found Guilty Of Force-Feeding Marijuana To Smugglers
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Border Patrol Agents Indictment
TUCSON, Ariz. -- A federal jury in Tucson found two U.S. Border Patrol agents guilty of violating the civil rights of four drug smugglers they arrested in the desert. One of the agents was found guilty of four felonies.
During an arrest in November 2008, Border Patrol Agent Ramon Zuniga grabbed some of the smugglers’ marijuana and shoved it into their mouths. Then he and agent Dario Castillo ordered the men to strip down to their underwear and ran them out into the winter desert. The agents then burned the clothes.
Zuniga was found guilty on four misdemeanor charges. Castillo was found guilty of four felony counts for the deprivation of rights.
Both agents were suspended from the Border Patrol before the case went to trial. Sentencing will take place in July.
