Customs and Border Protection Officers at the Brownsville Port of Entry Arrest Man Wanted on Charges of Counterfeiting U.S. Currency

Brownsville, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Brownsville Port of Entry apprehended a man on an active arrest warrant in a U.S. currency counterfeiting case.

On Wednesday, May 16, 2012 a CBP officer working pedestrian enforcement operations at Gateway International Bridge came in contact with a man identified as 49-year-old Santiago Lazo Gonzales, a Cuba citizen who resides in Harlingen, Texas. A primary CBP officer’s queries revealed an active arrest warrant for Lazo Gonzales from the United States Marshals Service in Miami, Florida. The CBP primary officer escorted Lazo Gonzales to CBP secondary for further identification and verification of the outstanding arrest warrant.

A CBP officer’s secondary checks of a national database confirmed the active arrest warrant for the previously deported Santiago Lazo Gonzales from a U.S. currency counterfeiting case. Lazo Gonzales was arrested by CBP officers and subsequently turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service for transportation to the Carrizales/Rucker Detention Center pending extradition to Miami, Florida.

“A primary CBP officer’s vigilance and use of a national database contributed to the identification of Santiago Lazo Gonzales, a wanted fugitive; I commend our CBP officers for the arrest of this wanted fugitive in this alleged currency counterfeiting case," said Michael Freeman, CBP Port Director, Brownsville Port of Entry.

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 official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.