March 2023 Blues Vol 39 No. 3

AROUND THE COUNTRY yrs.

AROUND THE COUNTRY yrs. United Nations, the U.S. retail price for that amount of cocaine amounts to nearly million. The driver of the truck, 28-year-old Bakersfield resident Jaspreet Singh, was arrested on suspicion of possessing and transporting cocaine with the intent to sell. This drug bust wasn’t K-9 Bailey’s first on the job. On August 29, 2022, Bailey was involved in a very similar bust following a traffic stop of another semi-truck on the interstate. In that case, Bailey alerted officers to 40 kilos (approximately 88 pounds) of cocaine. The driver and the passenger in that incident – 25-year-old Pargat Singh and 24-year-old Kulvider Singh – both shared the same surname as the suspect arrested on February 6. It’s not clear at the moment if they are related. Both Pargat and Kulvider were residents of Canada. Jaspreet Singh was jailed at the San Bernardino County Sheriff Department’s High Desert Detention Center in Adelanto. His bail was set at million. Barstow is located in the Mojave Desert in San Bernadino County, California. CHIEF: OFF-DUTY POLICE OF- FICER TOOK DOWN SUSPECT IN EL PASO MALL SHOOTING EL PASO, Texas — A suspect fatally shot one person and wounded three others at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday. Now, new details from El Paso Police Chief Peter Cartels are using UAVs to spy on federal agents working the U.S.-Mexico border in order to facilitate human smuggling and drug traffickin.g Pacillas have shed light on how the shooting was halted by an off-duty police officer. During a press conference, Pacillas said the off-duty officer, who was not named, was already at the Cielo Vista Mall when the incident occurred, FOX News reported. The shooting was reported at 5:05 p.m. and within three minutes the officer was able to take the suspect down without firing a shot. Officers from a handful of departments responded to the scene and “quickly brought it under control,” the chief said. There are currently two suspects in custody and the three wounded victims remain hospitalized, according to police. The off-duty officer was not injured. The shooting, including details of what led to the incident, remains under investigation. The FBI is assisting El Paso police in the investigation and set up a website where the public can share photos from the shooting. TEXAS SHERIFF TELLS CON- GRESS NEARLY 2,000 MEXICAN DRUG CARTEL DRONES HAVE BREACHED US AIRSPACE BROOKS COUNTY, Texas — Sheriff Urbino “Benny” Martinez of Brooks County in Texas will reportedly sound the alarm before Congress regarding the mass incursion of drones illegally entering U.S. airspace from Mexico. The sheriff says they are piloted by cartels and used to spy on federal agents working near the U.S.-Mexico border. Sheriff Martinez is scheduled to tell Democrats and Republicans during the House GOP’s first hearing on the Texas border on Wednesday evening that local and state law enforcement authorities have witnessed nearly 2,000 drones flying overhead in three Texas counties during the past month, reported the Washington Examiner. According to the sheriff, members of criminal organizations in Mexico that smuggle people 42 The BLUES The BLUES 43