Border agents rescue 14 illegal immigrants and sieze over a ton of pot
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.25.2008

The U.S. Border Patrol made two large drug seizures and rescued 14 illegal immigrants in the past three days along the U.S.-Mexican border.
DRUG SEIZURES
On Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Border Patrol agents tried to stop a Ford F250 heading east on Arizona 86 near Sells, said Esmeralda Marroquin, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokeswoman. The driver sped up and eventually turned off on to another road. Then, he fled on foot, she said.
Agents found 69 bundles of marijuana inside and in the bed of the truck. The marijuana weighed a total of 1,605 pounds. The drugs were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration and the truck to the Border Patrol.
Later that night at 9 p.m., an agency scope spotted 10 smugglers on horseback carrying bundles of marijuana near the international border in hills about 5 miles east of Nogales, Marroquin said. When agents approached the group, the smugglers cut the bundles from the horses and fled back into Mexico.
Agents recovered 14 bundles weighing a total of 950 pounds, she said.
From Oct. 1 through June 30 — the latest figures released by the agency — agents in the Tucson Sector seized 669,800 pounds of marijuana, down 6 percent from the total at the same period the year before.
RESCUES
Friday morning at 2:20 a.m., a Border Patrol apprehended three illegal immigrants about 11 miles south of Gila Bend, Marroquin said. As the agent was walking them back to his vehicle, one man suddenly became ill and lost consciousness. The agent, a member of the Border Patrol’s search, trauma and rescue team, Borstar, kept the man breathing until a life flight helicopter arrived, she said.
He was flown to West Valley Hospital in Goodyear. His condition was unknown, she said. The other two men were tired but okay.
On Wednesday at 11 p.m., a person called 911 and said he and a group of illegal immigrants were missing. Borstar agents were able to triangulate the location based on the cell phone call and headed out west of Casa Grande.
They found nine people about one-half mile south of Interstate 8 in an area southwest of the town of Stanfield. The nine told agents about five others who were further behind. Those five were found as well.
The group was very lost and some were dehydrated but none needed to be taken to hospitals.
From Oct. 1 through June 30, agents in the Tucson Sector have rescued 294 illegal immigrants in 93 incidents, compared to 341 people in 119 incidents the year before through the same date.
Marroquin said no bodies have been found this week. July is usually the deadliest month for illegal border crossers in Arizona’s desert.
∫ Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com.


http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/249886