CRASH OF TRUCK CARRYING POT KILLS DRIVER

LAS CRUCES - A 35-year-old Mexican national ferrying marijuana in his
pickup died in a one-vehicle accident May 30 south of Lordsburg while
being followed by federal Border Patrol agents.

A State Police investigation concluded Border Patrol agents pursuing
the vehicle did not make contact with the truck causing it to lose
control on a dirt and gravel section of road while heading southbound
on N.M. 338, said Sgt. Mark Thomas.

Killed in the accident was Heracilo Salcido Plasencia, 35, who had an
address in Douglas, Ariz., but was probably from Agua Prieta, Mexico,
Thomas said.

Border Patrol agents discovered a total of 408 pounds of marijuana in
bundles in the 1988 Chevrolet pickup driven by Salcido. The marijuana
had a street value of $326,400, according to Doug Mosier, spokesman
for the Border Patrol's El Paso sector, which includes all of New
Mexico.

Thomas said Border Patrol agents requested medical attention for
Salcido when they arrived upon the accident scene near mile marker 48
on the morning of May 30, but the driver died before assistance
arrived. Salcido was pronounced dead at 8:15 a.m., said State Police
spokeswoman Sgt. Royleen Ross-Weaver.

"He wasn't wearing a seat belt. That's what killed him," Thomas said.

"It was just a single-vehicle rollover," Thomas said. "There wasn't
any contact between the pickup that the smuggler was driving (and the
Border Patrol truck). ... The tire marks just indicate he lost
control of the vehicle due to excessive speed."

According to State Police, Border Patrol agents initially stopped
Salcido's truck near mile marker 20 as it headed northbound on N.M.
338 in New Mexico's sparsely populated Bootheel in Hidalgo County.

As two Border Patrol agents approached the truck, Salcido took off in
his truck from the stop and headed northbound about five miles before
making a U-turn and heading southbound on N.M. 338 toward the Mexican
border, Ross-Weaver said. Salcido's vehicle lost control 33 miles
later.

Thomas could not say Friday how fast the vehicles traveled south on
N.M. 338, but Mosier said agents did not engage in a "high-speed
pursuit" of the kind that are strictly regulated by Border Patrol
policy.

Border Patrol guidelines for high-speed, high-risk chases take into
account public safety and require supervisory responsibility.

The Border Patrol is conducting its own accident investigation, Mosier said.