An Arizona correctional officer, who’s also an Army National Guardsman, was caught Tuesday allegedly driving more than 50 pounds of drugs across the the US-Mexico border with his wife and three children in the car, officials said.
Fernando Urrutiaguillen, 34, was allegedly smuggling 23 kilos, or 50 pounds, of methamphetamine and one kilo of heroin into the US when California Highway Patrol officers cuffed him.
The service member allegedly stuffed the drugs inside the car’s gas tank while the family was in Mexico.
He then piled his unwitting family into the car for the drive across the border, but was halted during a routine traffic stop in Irvine, California, approximately 100 miles north of Mexico.
Officials do not believe his wife and three children knew about the scheme until a K-9 sniffed out the stash.
“This individual not only put his wife and three young children in incredible danger, he put another black mark on every upstanding law enforcement officer who works tirelessly to protect Americans from the very drug dealers he was doing business with,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.
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The state corrections department told The Post Urrutiaguillen, who was working at a private prison, has had his security clearance revoked and has been banned from any premises.
Urrutiaguillen was charged with a multitude of felonies, including possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and the transport of a controlled substance.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Urrutiaguillen was booked at the Orange County Jail in lieu of $3 million bail.
He faces up to 21 years and four months in jail.
