KEY POINTS
- Authorities caught the man on surveillance crossing the U.S. border armed.
- His fingerprints later matched a shotgun found near the border.
- Border Patrol arrested him carrying 1.4 pounds of MDMA.
In a U.S. District Court in Seattle, a Zimbabwean national entered a guilty plea Thursday to two federal felonies pertaining to his unlawful entry into the United States via a remote wilderness area near the Washington-Canada border.
Surveillance footage captures armed border crossing
Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller said Tatenda Banga, 30, pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful alien possession of firearms and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
According to prosecutors, Banga was captured on camera twice in 2024 in the North Cascades, close to Hozomeen, Washington. U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead will sentence him on June 12.
The plea deal states that on January 3, 2024, U.S. Border Patrol detection technology photographed an armed person entering the United States close to Ross Lake’s north end. The individual, subsequently identified as Banga, was observed bringing a longarm shotgun across the border. He defaced another camera close to the border later that day, according to surveillance footage.
According to New Zimbabawe, a park service canoe was discovered close to Ross Dam on Dec. 27, 2024, prompting the National Park Service to notify the Border Patrol of potential cross-border activity. Officers found food wrappers and a machete inside the canoe. A individual with a backpack and a headlamp was seen traveling toward the U.S.-Canada border in a picture taken by Royal Canadian Mounted Police surveillan
Banga was later seen by Border Patrol officers strolling along Highway 20 close to Ross Lake’s southernmost point. He looked much like the person on the RCMP security camera footage. During an immigration inspection, Banga failed to provide documentation proving he had legally entered or was legally present in the United States.
Border Patrol arrests suspect with drugs on Highway 20
According to New Zimbabawe, authorities hauled Banga into arrest and found he was carrying scales, gelatin capsules, and around 1.4 pounds of MDMA.
Border Patrol agents eventually recognized Banga as the same guy captured defacing cameras in the region nearly a year earlier. A re-examination of fingerprints obtained on the shotgun seized in January 2024 matched Banga’s prints. Additionally, data from his phone linked him to the handgun.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol Blaine Sector Anti-Smuggling Unit, the National Park Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dane A. Westermeyer and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Collins are prosecuting the case.
