Graig Graziosi, The Republic | azcentral.com 5:44 p.m. MST June 15, 2016

Border Patrol agents in a Black Hawk helicopter raided a mountain top criminal camp in the Tucson Sector.

Border Patrol agents made an arrest in the raid of a criminal scout camp hidden away on a mountaintop outside Arizona City, the agency announced Wednesday.

Border Patrol agents from Tucson sectors Special Operation Detachment and Tucson Air and Marine Operations Air Branch participated in the May 20 raid, which began in the air and resulted in agents engaging in a foot chase down the side of the mountain.

According to Tucson sector spokesman Matthew Eisenhauer, scout camps like the one targeted in the raid are often used to undermine the border patrol's anti-trafficking efforts.

“These kinds of scouts usually act as counter-surveillance to our efforts. They help guide human and narcotics smuggling. It’s likely that these two (scouts) were involved in narcotics smuggling,” he said.

Camp found during reconnaissance mission

The scout camp was first identified by Air and Marine operatives while flying a reconnaissance mission in the Sonoran Desert outside Arizona City. Agents spotted a pair of scouts wearing camouflage moving on the mountainside.

The operation launched later that evening after the agents reported their findings.

Agents in a Black Hawk helicopter flew a group of Special Operation Detachment agents to the scout location. The special ops agents fast-roped from the helicopter, landing near the mountain’s summit, where the scouts were operating from a makeshift observation post in a cave.

One of the scouts attempted to flee after being spotted by one of the agents. The agent chased the scout, eventually apprehending him 30 feet from a steep cliff on the mountain’s slope. According to the Border Patrol, the second scout was not present during the operation and likely left the mountain sometime before the agents arrived.

Difficult, dangerous task

Chief Patrol Agent Paul Beeson of the Tucson sector said the operation was particularly dangerous, as it combined a hazardous landscape with criminal elements.

“Agents jumping out of helicopters onto mountaintops is dangerous enough on its own,” he said. “The risk of injury or death to everyone involved is increased more so when you add having to pursue dangerous criminals in a harsh environment,” Beeson said.

The agents on the ground aren’t the only ones in harm’s way, according to Mitch Pribble, director of operations for the Tucson Air and Marine Operations Air Branch. Pribble described the challenges associated with keeping an aircraft steady over a mountaintop.

“It takes a great amount of training, expertise and precision by our aircraft crew to operate the Black Hawk during insertion operations over mountain ranges,” Pribble said. “This is indicative of the dangers and challenges air agents face every time they depart for an enforcement mission. There is no room for error when keeping an aircraft that large steady in gusty cross-winds among narrow mountain peaks to enable other agents to descend as safely as possible.”

Individuals caught scouting for transnational smuggling or other criminal organizations can be federally charged with criminal conspiracy.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...raid/85928238/