U.S. citizen arrested in 'smuggling incident' dies in Border Patrol custody

Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A 32-year-old U.S. citizen who was arrested by Border Patrol agents died in custody, Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Wednesday.

Border Patrol officials sent a statement to Congress saying the man, who was not identified, was arrested as a suspect in an "alien smuggling incident" in Texas on Tuesday and died about 6 hours later.

CBP said the man was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. by agents assigned to a station in Brackettville, Texas, and began "exhibiting signs of distress" at around 6 p.m. while being processed.

"EMT-certified agents immediately administered first aid and contacted local Emergency Medical Servis as his health deteriorated," CBP said. "At around 6:40 p.m., EMS arrived and transported the subject by ambulance to a local hospital. He was pronounced deceased by medical personnel at 9:37 p.m."

CBP, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security, has faced scrutiny over the deaths of several migrants held in custody in recent years.

In December, an inspector general ruled there was no misconduct by Department of Homeland Security officials that led to the death of two migrant children while in custody and cleared DHS personnel of malfeasance.