Officers with Customs and Border Protection captured an alleged pedophile at the Mexico border earlier this week.
CBP officers arrested Noe Magallen, a 71-year-old American citizen, at the Progreso Port of Entry on June 5, according to a press release. Magellan was wanted for “indecency with a child by sexual contact” in Hidalgo County, Texas.
“Our frontline CBP officers maintained their vigilance and uncovered a man wanted on a significant alleged offense of a sexual nature involving a child,” said Port Director Michael Martinez in the release.
Officers at the Progreso International Bridge – between McAllen and Brownsville – referred Magallen for “secondary inspection,” according to the release. They used “federal law enforcement databases and biometric verification” to check his identity. Then, officers found he was wanted by the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office on a “felony arrest warrant” for alleged sexual indecency with a child.
“Magallen was turned over to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office deputies for adjudication of the warrant,” the release reads. “Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.”
Magallen was booked on June 5, according to jail records. He faces one charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact, which allegedly occurred on August 2, 2022. He was previously arrested twice in 2000 for driving while intoxicated.
The National Crime Information Center is a “centralized automated database” for police to collaborate on “outstanding warrants,” according to the release. As The Dallas Express reported at the time, CBP officials cited the same system in May after arresting wanted sex offenders.
“Apprehensions like these exemplify CBP’s continued commitment to our border security mission and protecting our communities,” Martinez said in the release.