Border agents rescue immigrant from S. Arizona mountaintop
Reported by: Rebecca Thomas
Email: rebecca.thomas@abc15.com
Last Update: 11:22 am

Border Patrol Mountaintop Rescue A distressed undocumented immigrant forced Border Patrol agents in the Tucson Sector to make a high-risk rescue on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation Wednesday.

The 22-year-old man told agents he was out of water and unable to come down from a remote peak in the Baboquivari Mountains on his own.

Two Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) agents, a CBP Aviation Enforcement Officer and a DPS Paramedic repelled from a Blackhawk helicopter to reach the man -- who was then placed in a basket and hoisted to safety.

Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Roy Hoats called the rescue a successful operation, due to the cooperative efforts of the law enforcement partners.
"The alien would have died without being able to be airlifted to a hospital for more advanced medical treatment," said Hoats.

Between October 2008 and March 31 2009, BORSTAR agents in the Tucson Sector have rescued 75 people in distress.
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