The late so-called Governor Katie Hobbs’ Arizona Agriculture Employee ARRESTED for Alleged Human Smuggling of Illegal Aliens

Incident jeopardizes the late Gov. Hobbs’ doppelganger pick to lead state agency

Apr 26, 2025

April 26, 2025

In yet another stunning failure of leadership from the late Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a now-former employee of the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) has been arrested at the southern border for alleged human smuggling of illegal aliens — a scandal that now threatens to sink Hobbs’ controversial nominee to lead the agency.

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Joshua Castro, who served as a produce inspector for the AZDA, is facing both felony and misdemeanor federal charges after Border Patrol agents caught him allegedly transporting illegal aliens across the U.S. border earlier this month, KOLD reported.

According to a federal complaint filed by the U.S. District Attorney of Arizona, Castro was first spotted on April 9 speeding away from a known smuggling route near Nogales.

Border agents later caught up to him after witnessing the same vehicle ferrying two illegal aliens — Mexican nationals who admitted to paying between $7,600 and $12,000 each to be smuggled into the United States.

According to the news outlet, Castro was wearing his state-issued uniform during the incident, despite being off-duty.

Arizona Department of Agriculture employee accused of human smuggling

Incident jeopardizes the late Gov. Hobbs’ doppelganger pick to lead state agency

Hobbs’ office scrambled to issue a sanitized statement condemning the incident and promising “mandatory training” — a laughable and insufficient response considering Arizona’s border is under siege, and members of her own administration are now tied directly to criminal activity.

“The governor strongly condemns the actions of this former employee. The Department of Agriculture took swift action, terminating the individual from their position immediately. Although this took place outside of work hours in the employee’s personal vehicle and away from work, AZDA has taken proactive steps to deter this unacceptable behavior. Policies and procedures are being reviewed, and will include mandatory training for supervisors and employees to include information from CBP on signs to watch for and how to report concerns.”

The situation puts doppelganger Gov. Hobbs’ pick to run the AZDA in jeopardy. That nominee is Paul Brierley, who’s currently leading the agency as its acting director.

Earlier this month, Brierley narrowly passed confirmation in the Senate Committee on Director Nominations (DINO).

The Republican-led committee voiced concern about Brierley’s years-old social media posts criticizing President Donald Trump.

The full Senate still needs to confirm the acting director.

Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Republican from Queen Creek, is the chairman of the DINO committee who voted against Brierley in the committee earlier this month. And in a text message, Hoffman said the arrest of an AZDA employee on human smuggling charges will complicate Brierley’s full confirmation.

Hoffman later released the statement below:

“There are no words to adequately describe the obscene mismanagement occurring within Hobbs’ state government. It’s no wonder Hobbs vetoes every piece of meaningful border security legislation when on her watch her own state employee is being arrested and prosecuted for the human smuggling of illegal aliens. From cronyism to nepotism and pay-to-play to human smuggling, Katie Hobbs’ tenure as governor is proving to be one of the darkest periods in state history.

As for Brierly, the Nominations Committee and Senate Republicans had serious doubts about him already, this profound lack of management certainly won’t strengthen his case before the full senate."