AZ Gov Katie Hobbs Staffer Arrested For Human Smuggling

Joshua Castro arrested while in uniform while working under Katie Hobbs at the Arizona (Dept of AG) for charging two Mexican men nearly ($20K) dollars to smuggle them into this country.

AZ Governor Hobbs vetoes ever piece of border security legislation.

Modern day slave trade. Hardly surprising as the Democrats were and are the party of slavery.

SMUGGLING

Joshua Castro arrested while in uniform while working under Katie Hobbs at the Arizona (Dept of AG) for charging two Mexican men nearly ($20K) dollars to smuggle them into this country

The liberal media’s ignoring this story so you folks know exactly what to do pic.twitter.com/0BPruMDb8Y

— @Chicago1Ray (@Chicago1Ray) April 27, 2025

Arizona Department of Agriculture employee accused of human smuggling

Incident jeopardizes Gov. Hobbs’ pick to lead state agency

By Ben Bradley and Dennis Welch, AZ Family, April 25, 2025:

NOGALES, AZ (AZFamily) — A now-former employee of the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) was arrested earlier this month at the state’s southern border for alleged human smuggling, in an incident that threatens to derail the nomination of Gov. Katie Hobbs’ pick to run the state agency.

Joshua Castro is facing two federal charges: one felony and one misdemeanor. Further details of the arrest were laid out in a complaint filed two weeks ago by the U.S. District Attorney of Arizona.

On April 9, Border Patrol agents in Nogales spotted a black Chevrolet Impala quickly leaving a known smuggling route and getting onto Interstate 19, driving a certain way to see if law enforcement was around. The next evening, agents saw the same sedan in the area of Hereford Drive and International Street before losing sight of it. Agents saw only one person inside.

The following day, the agents saw the same sedan returning the way it came, but now with two passengers in the backseat. Agents followed the car onto the interstate, pulled it over and asked the driver, identified as Castro, about his passengers.

According to court documents, Castro said the two men had asked for a ride and he didn’t know them. But the agents soon determined the two men were Mexican citizens who were in the U.S. illegally.

One of the men told agents he paid 150,000 Mexican pesos (approximately $7,600 U.S. dollars) to be smuggled into the country. He said he illegally crossed the border and hid until he was told to walk to an area near a red house and look for a black car that would pick him up.

The other man told agents he was going to pay $12,000 to be smuggled into the U.S. and provided a similar account of how he crossed into the country and the directions he followed.

Following his arrest, Castro was immediately fired from AZDA, where he worked as a produce inspector. While Castro was not on duty at the time of his arrest, he was wearing his uniform, according to state officials briefed on the incident.

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