South Texas authorities have arrested a Russian mercenary who illegally crossed the border from Mexico, according to a report.
The incident occurred over the weekend in the border city of Rome, Texas, where U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Timur Plaliev, a Kazakh national who was a member of the private military company Wagner Group, court documents show.
Local reporter Dave Hendricks first reported Praliev appeared before a federal judge in McAllen and pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal entry into the country. Hendricks said that at the time of his arrest, Praliev had two passports, one from Kazakhstan and one from Russia. He also had a drone, $4,000 in cash and 60,000 pesos (about $3,000) in his backpack.
During the hearing, federal prosecutors raised concerns that Praliev would be released because his sentence for illegal entry was only a few days. Hendricks said U.S. Judge J. Scott Hacker said Praliev would remain in some form of federal custody after his illegal entry hearing. Mr. Hacker said he did not know why Mr. Praliev was in the United States.
The judge sentenced the Russian mercenary to prison.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, Praliev's arrest comes amid apparent growing concern over what authorities call “aliens of special interest,” or people from countries with ties to terrorism. . Breitbart's Texas correspondent Bob Price reported this week on the arrests of two Iranians and two Egyptians that raised red flags within the U.S. Border Patrol.
In December, U.S. Border Patrol Commissioner Jason Owens revealed that the agency had detected 10,000 SIA in the previous fiscal year, Breitbart Texas reported.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist at Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Breitbart, Texas Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Breitbart's senior management team. you can follow him Twitter And even more facebook. He can be contacted at: iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Breitbart, Texas Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Breitbart's senior management team. please follow him Twitter and facebook. He can be contacted at: bdarby@breitbart.com.
