Five illegal immigrants rescued by Border Patrol over the weekend
Convicted sex offender arrested
By Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.21.2008
U.S. Border Patrol agents rescued five illegal immigrants in two separate incidents over the weekend and also arrested a convicted sex offender and helped find a man suspected in a shooting on the Tohono O’odham Reservation.
RESCUES
On Sunday at about 1 p.m., Pinal County Sheriff’s Office transferred a 911 call to the Border Patrol from three people lost in the desert near the village of Quijotoa on the Tohono O’odham Reservation, said Rob Daniels, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman.
A Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine helicopter — with members of the Border Patrol’s search and rescue team, Borstar, aboard — flew out to the area. At about 2:30 p.m., agents aboard the helicopter spotted the three, Daniels said.
They landed and determined the trio needed further medical attention. They were taken to the hospital in Sells and treated for minor dehydration and blisters, he said. Then, they were taken to the law enforcement center in San Miguel and set up for voluntary returns.
On Friday at 10 a.m., the agency received a call from a person who spotted two women in distress on the side of Arizona 80 in between Bisbee and Douglas, Daniels said. An agent in the area found the women suffering from heat exhaustion.
One woman, a 32-year-old woman from Tlaxcala, Mexico, was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tucson with advance symptoms of dehydration, Daniels said. She was eventually released. Her sister, 20, also of Tlaxcala, Mexico, was treated at the scene.
Both were given voluntary returns back to Mexico.
ARRESTS
On Saturday at 9:45 p.m., agents working at the highway checkpoint north of Tubac pulled over a 50-year-old man driving a Dodge Status, Daniels said. They found 180 pounds of marijuana inside a hidden compartment. During a fingerprint check, they found out the man, a U.S. citizen, was a convicted sex offender in Santa Cruz County, Ariz.
He was arrested and the drugs and his car were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration, he said.
On Friday in the early morning at about 3 a.m., the Border Patrol received a call from the Tohono O’odham police about a shooting near Sells. They said the suspected shooter was on the loose and armed with a shotgun, Daniels said.
A short time later, agents spotted a man matching the description. He didn’t have a weapon and despite a search, they didn’t find it. The man, a resident of the Tohono O’odham Reservation, was turned over to the Tohono O’odham police.


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