Tucson Region
Border Patrol agents have a busy few days
Rattlesnake bite, smugglers keep agents hopping
By Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.16.2008
advertisementA U.S. Border Patrol agent was airlifted out of the Huachuca Mountains west of Sierra Vista Thursday after being bitten by a rattlesnake.
The snakebite comes on the heels of a hectic Wednesday along Arizona's stretch of U.S.-Mexican border that included a 63-year-old Tucson man facing charges of smuggling heroin in Nogales, three discoveries of marijuana in hidden vehicle compartments and the arrest of 11 illegal immigrants in the parking lot of Marana High School.
In the snakebite incident, the agent called the Border Patrol station about 10:15 a.m. saying he had puncture wounds in his boots and his toes were starting to turn discolored from being bitten by a rattlesnake, said Rob Daniels, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman.
The agent was on routine patrol in a steep area of the Huachuca Mountains west of Sierra Vista when he was bitten, Daniels said.
Authorities launched a rescue effort that included a pair of helicopters and three search and rescue teams.
A National Guard helicopter carrying Borstar agents — the agency's search, trauma and rescue team — landed about one-third of a mile away.
While the Borstar agents moved in on foot, an Arizona Department of Public Safety ranger helicopter team with experience performing high- altitude rescues flew in above, said Dove Haber, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokeswoman.
The Borstar agents helped harness the injured man into a basket attached to the ranger helicopter. The ranger helicopter pulled him up and flew him to Sierra Vista Regional Health Center.
He was in stable condition Thursday afternoon, Haber said.

The Cochise County Search and Rescue team was also involved.
Heroin smuggling
About 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Dennis DeConcini port of entry in downtown Nogales, officers became suspicious of a 63-year-old U.S. citizen from Tucson who was coming through the port by foot, said Brian Levin, Customs and Border Protection spokesman.
They began searching his luggage and, using an X-ray machine, discovered abnormalities in a suitcase. They found 11 packages of heroin hidden between the panels inside.
The 17 pounds of heroin has an estimated value of $269,875, using figures from the National Drug Intelligence Center.
The man was arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation and prosecution.

Hidden compartment
Also on Wednesday, Border Patrol agents found marijuana in two hidden vehicle compartments at the Interstate 19 checkpoint.
Agents, with the help of a drug sniffing dog, found 400 pounds of marijuana in hidden vehicle compartments in two incidents that occurred within an hour of each other Wednesday morning at the Interstate 19 checkpoint south of Amado.
A dog alerted agents about 9 a.m. to the odor of drugs coming from a Dodge truck.
Agents discovered more than 300 pounds of marijuana inside a false floor in the bed of the truck, Daniels said.
At 10 a.m., the dog hit again, this time on a Ford truck. Agents found 100 pounds of marijuana in the wheel-well area.
Both drivers, a 41-year-old U.S. citizen from Rio Rico, and a 37-year-old Mexican man with a border crossing card, will be prosecuted by the state, Daniels said.

At 10:45 a.m. at the Douglas port of entry, officers discovered 22 bundles of marijuana hidden a speaker box of a 2002 Dodge Ram 2500.
The marijuana, which weighed a total of 436 pounds, and the truck were seized and turned over to Customs and Border Protection.
The driver, a 26-year-old man from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, was arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Parking-lot arrests
The arrests in the Marana High School parking lot occurred at about 6:50 a.m. Wednesday after a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter spotted a 2008 Ford Exhibition coming out of the Silver Mine Road area west of Marana, Daniels said.
Agents in the helicopter saw the driver turn into the Marana High School parking lot and stop. Eleven people emerged from the SUV and began running, Daniels said.
Agents in vehicles arrived and arrested all 11 people, Daniels said. The driver, a 33-year-old Mexican man, was arrested and faces charges of people smuggling.
The other 10, all illegal immigrants from Mexico, were taken to a Border Patrol processing center. The Expedition was a rental vehicle, he said.
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