DEL RIO, Texas –
    U.S. Border Patrol agents working in the Del Rio Sector seized more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana, valued over $800,000 in three different incidents.
    “These seizures of narcotics show the perseverance and vigilance by our frontline Border Patrol agents,” said Del Rio Sector Chief Rodolfo Karisch. “I thank our agents for their diligence and commitment to our mission.”
    On Oct. 7, at approximately 8 a.m., agents from the Comstock Station, conducting linewatch operations, responded to a report of suspicious activity on a local ranch. As agents neared the area, they observed several individuals loading bundles into a pickup truck on Highway 90.  Agents attempted to conduct an immigration stop but driver of the pickup truck failed to yield, drove off into a ravine and fled on foot. Agents inspected the pickup truck and discovered duffel bags in the bed of the truck. The duffel bags containing 453 pounds of marijuana, valued at an estimated $363,120.  The marijuana was turned over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
    On Oct. 7, at approximately 3 p.m., agents from the Del Rio Station, conducting checkpoint operations on Highway 277, directed the driver of a Chevrolet pickup truck to a secondary inspection area after a service canine alerted to the rear of the vehicle. After an inspection of the vehicle’s gas tank, agents discovered a hidden compartment containing 36 packages of marijuana.  The packages contained at total of 126 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $101,520.  DEA agents took custody of the marijuana.
    On Oct. 19, at approximately 11 a.m., agents from the Comstock Station, conducting linewatch operations in an area known for narcotic smuggling, observed eight individuals walking through the brush on a local ranch. Agents on the ground began to follow the foot sign left behind by the individuals and apprehended eight Mexican nationals with the assistance from CBP Air and Marine Operations, Del Rio Air Branch. After a search of the area, agents discovered eight duffel bags containing 448 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $358,400. The narcotics and the Mexican nationals were turned over to DEA.
    For Fiscal Year 2016, which began on Oct. 1, 2015, the Del Rio Border Patrol Sector has seized $1.8 million worth of narcotics. The Del Rio Border Patrol Sector is part of the South Texas Corridor, which leverages federal, state and local resources to combat transnational criminal organizations. To report suspicious activity, call the sector’s toll free number at 1-866-511-8727.
    U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

DALLAS (AP) —
    A 14-year-old Muslim boy who was arrested after a homemade clock he brought to school was mistaken for a possible bomb will be moving with his family to the Middle East so he can attend school there, his family said.
    Ahmed Mohamed's family released a statement Tuesday saying they had accepted a foundation's offer to pay for his high school and college in Doha, Qatar. He recently visited the country as part of a whirlwind month that included a Monday stop at the White House and an appearance Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol.
    "We are going to move to a place where my kids can study and learn, and all of them being accepted by that country," Ahmed's father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, told The Dallas Morning News before boarding an airplane from Washington back home to Texas on Tuesday.
    The statement said the family has been "overwhelmed by the many offers of support" since Ahmed's arrest on Sept. 14 at his school in Irving, a Dallas suburb. The family said it accepted an offer from the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development to join its Young Innovators Program.
    Ahmed, who along with his family will relocate to Qatar, received a full scholarship for his secondary and undergraduate education. Ahmed said he was impressed with the program and thinks he'll "learn a lot and have fun, too."
    Ahmed took a homemade clock to his high school to show a teacher, but another teacher thought it could be a bomb. The school contacted police, who handcuffed the boy and took him to a detention center. The school suspended him for three days.
    A police photo of the device shows a carrying case containing a circuit board and power supply wired to a digital display. Police ultimately chose not to charge Ahmed with having a hoax bomb, and the police chief has said there was no evidence the teen meant to cause alarm. His parents later withdrew him from the school.
    But in recent weeks, the teenager has been traveling the world. Ahmed earlier this week told The Associated Press that he had visited Google and Facebook, along with other companies and institutions. He also visited with the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, which has prompted some criticism because al-Bashir is wanted by International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and war crimes for atrocities linked to the Darfur fighting. Ahmed's father is a Sudanese immigrant to the U.S. and a former presidential candidate in Sudan who ran opposing al-Bashir.
    Before attending "Astronomy Night" at the White House on Monday, where he chatted briefly with President Barack Obama, Ahmed said he was grateful. He said the lesson of his experience is: "Don't judge a person by the way they look. Always judge them by their heart."
    On Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol, Ahmed stood alongside California Rep. Mike Honda as the Democrat praised the teen, saying Ahmed had used his negative experience to raise awareness about racial and ethnic profiling. Honda and more than two dozen other congressmen sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch last month calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Ahmed's detention and arrest.