11 immigrants rescued; pot seized
By Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.02.2008
Border Patrol agents rescued 11 illegal immigrants on Thursday and discovered 2,800 pounds of marijuana in an abandoned truck on Friday.
At 8 p.m. Thursday, a man called 911 using a cell phone and said he and a group of 10 people were lost, said Rob Daniels, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman.
The Border Patrol sent out members of the search, trauma and rescue team, known as Borstar, to the King Anvil Road, located about seven miles south of Three Points off of Arizona 286, he said.
About 10 p.m., agents found a group of 10 illegal immigrants sitting on the road. They said they had crossed the border four days before with a group of 20 people, which included two guides, or smugglers, Daniels said. The two smugglers and the other eight people had continued the night before but the 10 said they were too tired to keep up.
The Borstar treated the 10 at the scene and took them back to a processing center where they would be given voluntary returns. None required further medical attention, Daniels said.
The second rescue occurred at midnight when an agent driving on Arizona 286 about 13 miles north of the border spotted a man flagging him down, Daniels said. The man, 26, of Guatemala, was severely dehydrated and alone.
A paramedic from Borstar arrived and treated the man until an ambulance arrived and took him to University Physicians Healthcare Hospital at Kino in Tucson.
Drug seizure
Border Patrol agents discovered more than a ton of marijuana in an abandoned pickup truck Friday morning on the Tohono O'odham Reservation.
At 1 a.m., agents patrolling near the village of Gunsite noticed suspicious car tracks, said a news release from the agency. They followed the tracks and found a Chevrolet pickup truck spray-painted black.
They found 164 bundles of marijuana weighing 2,800 pounds, the release said. The marijuana has an estimated value of $1.6 million, using figures from the National Drug Intelligence Center.
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