Arkansas Guard helicopter helps Border Patrol seize pot, make arrests in New Mexico

LORDSBURG, N.M. — Authorities say an Arkansas National Guard helicopter deployed to the New Mexico desert to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border helped federal agents seize large sacks of marijuana and arrest four camouflage-clad men hiding in brush at night.

National Guard and Customs and Border Patrol officials said Thursday that the LUH-72 Lakota helicopter's crew used its night-vision equipment to first guide Border Patrol agents on ATVs to the hiding suspects and then located the nearly 136 pounds (62 kilograms) of marijuana in burlap sacks stashed nearby.

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A Border Patrol agent had initially spotted the men walking along a road.

The incident occurred Tuesday night near Playas, New Mexico, which is about 120 miles (194 kilometers) west of El Paso, Texas, and about 39 miles (63 kilometers) north of the border.

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