Border Patrol Agent Charged With DWI Amid 'Operation Metro Surge'

ST. PAUL, MN — A federal Border Patrol agent assigned to Minnesota during the White House’s ongoing immigration enforcement operation known as "Operation Metro Surge" has been charged with driving while intoxicated following an early-morning arrest in St. Paul.

Alfredo Jr. Mancillas, 31, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was charged Jan. 27 in Ramsey County District Court with third-degree DWI for refusing to submit to a breath test, a gross misdemeanor, and fourth-degree DWI for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a misdemeanor, according to court records reviewed by Patch.

According to the criminal complaint, a Minnesota State Patrol trooper was patrolling near Saint Anthony Avenue and Simpson Street at about 3:25 a.m. when the trooper observed a vehicle parked along the roadway in front of a no-parking sign.

The driver was slumped over in the driver’s seat and covered in vomit, the complaint states.

The trooper identified the driver as Mancillas and reported smelling alcohol on him, according to the criminal complaint. The trooper also noted that Mancillas had bloodshot, watery eyes and showed signs of impairment during standardized field sobriety tests, police said.

Mancillas was arrested and later refused to submit to a breath test after being read Minnesota’s breath-testing advisory, court records say.

Mancillas was released from jail and is scheduled to appear in court on March 24.

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed to the Star Tribune that an agent had been arrested and charged, adding that the incident is under review by the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

"CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission," the spokesperson said in a statement to the newspaper. "The overwhelming majority of CBP employees and officers perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe."