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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, February 13, 2014 INCIDENTS Padre Island NS Man Sentenced To Jail Term In Smuggling Case In March, 2013, rangers conducted a traffic stop that resulted in several arrests for immigration violations. Further investigation by rangers revealed that the same group was transporting narcotics through the park. A multi-agency investigative effort led by rangers ensued. Participating were the Coast Guard Investigative Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Texas Department of Public Safety, DEA, Customs and Border Protection, and the Corpus Christi Police Department. Two men were arrested in May, 2013, as they again attempted to smuggle marijuana and undocumented aliens through the park. A federal indictment followed, with both defendants pleading guilty. The primary conspirator, A.G.-Z., pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute less than 50 kilos of marijuana, and one count of conspiracy to transport undocumented aliens. On January 27th, A.G.-Z. was sentenced to 46 months in federal custody. [Matthew Rosselot, Park Ranger] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): East Coast Areas - Many parks and offices in the East, including the Washington Office and Southeast Regional Office, are closed today due to the impacts of the massive winter storm currently moving up the East Coast. Buck Island Reef NM - The park's new film, entitled “Caribbean Gem: Buck Island Reef National Monument,” will premier today. This ten minute film was made over the course of the past year in celebration of 50 years of protection and resource management at Buck Island Reef. Gulf Islands NS - Susan Gayle Faw Faw Blair, 57, resource educator for the park's Mississippi District, passed away on January 25th at her home in Biloxi, Mississippi, after a year-long battle with cancer. Geologic Resources Division - After 34 years working in soil science, Pete Biggam retired from federal service on January 3rd. He was the Servicewide soils program manager for the NPS from 1999 until his retirement. Wilderness Stewardship - Beth Hahn has been named the branch chief for the Branch of Wilderness Science. She will work at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute in Missoula, Montana. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |