Border Patrol Officers Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison For Forcing Alleged Mexican Smugglers To Eat Marijuana

U.S Border Patrol — Border Patrol Agents watch their specialized unit, Border Patrol's Search, Trauma, and Rescue (BORSTAR) team as they demonstrate a technical rescue extraction of a patient off the side of a cliff in Pena Blanca Canyon, Arizona. Reuters

In April a jury found two United States Border Patrol officers guilty of violating the civil rights of four men they believed to be drug smugglers. In 2008 Dario Castillo, 25, and Ramon Zuniga, 31 were accused of forcing a group of Mexican men believed to be drug smugglers, to eat handfuls of marijuana. The two officers were sentenced on Tuesday Nov. 12 to two years in prison by U.S District Judge Jennifer Zipps. The incident between the patrol officers and the Mexican smugglers took place five years to the day, prior to the officers sentencing.

On Nov. 12, 2008 Castillo and Zuniga were about to finish their shift when they were called in as backup by one of the mounted patrol guards. About 20 Mexican men, all believed to be in the country illegally were believed to be scattered around the border near the Pisinimo Village to the West of the Tohono O'odham Reservation. Castillo and Zuniga apprehended four of the suspected smugglers and told them to remove their shoes and jackets. Removing a layer of clothing and shoes is a standard request when border patrol is dealing with more than one detainee.

After the two agents took the men's shoes and jackets they tossed the items into a fire. They then forced the four men to chew handfuls of pot before telling them to run into the desert barefoot and with no jackets on a cold night. The four men were later picked up by Tohono O'odham Nation tribal police. The four Mexican men told tribal police they were robbed by bandits. When transferred to the custody of border police they accused the two officers of abuse.

After the incident was reported Castillo and Zuniga were fired but Boarder Patrol said the two men were tired and stressed from a long day at work when the incident took place. Before the judge read the sentences Zuniga addressed the court expressing remorse and saying, "I allowed these individuals to get the best of me that night. I've regretted those actions every day for the past five years."

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