Thread: Woman, likely border crosser, found dead west of Nogales

Woman, likely border crosser, found dead west of Nogales
Border agents track armed drug runners
By Brady McCombs
ARIZONA DAily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.27.2007

Law enforcement officials working near the border recovered the body of a suspected illegal border crosser and confiscated 741 pounds of marijuana in separate incidents over the weekend.

A woman found the body of a Mexican woman between 30 and 40 years old west of Peña Blanca Lake on Sunday, said Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada. She found the dead woman while checking on camera equipment for a sensor placed to spot jaguars, he said.

It appears the woman died from hypothermia or exposure, and no foul play is suspected, Estrada said.

The latest numbers made available by the Border Patrol show that through January there were 23 known deaths in the border's Tucson Sector, compared with 29 at that point last fiscal year.

The body recovered Sunday was the first of a suspected illegal entrant in Santa Cruz County this calendar year, said Lt. Raul Rodriguez. The county recovered 13 in 2006, he said.

Saturday night on the eastern edge of the Tohono O'odham Reservation, four Border Patrol agents on horse patrol tracking a group of 20 drug runners apprehended five illegal entrants plus 14 backpacks of marijuana and a loaded AK-47, said Sean King, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman.

The horse patrol tracked the group into the Baboquivari Mountains, then moved ahead and waited for them where the trail comes out on the other side of the mountain range, King said.

The first man was carrying an AK-47, followed by 19 others walking 50 feet apart. The last man in line was also carrying a weapon, King said.

The agents jumped the drug runners when a helicopter arrived above and caught five of them, King said. The 741 pounds of marijuana has an estimated value of $741,000, according to figures from the National Drug Intelligence Center.

The five men, ranging in age from 30 to 45, were turned over to the U.S. Attorney's Office, King said.

● Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or at bmccombs@azstarnet.com.

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/171100

Build the fence faster! We are never going to stop these crossing until we have a fence to stop them. With congress starting to bless another comphresensive immigration bill and the minutemen playing politics, we are losing.