Border Patrol has busy weekend
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March 07, 2011 3:14 PM

U.S. Border Patrol agents rescued a man who was drowning in the Rio Grande, arrested a wanted sex offender and seized cocaine and marijuana in multiple incidents this past weekend.

The man was rescued Saturday night near Madero, Texas, after a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter saw him try to avoid capture by jumping into the river and swimming to Mexico. The helicopter crew advised agents who were patrolling the river by boat that the man was in distress and needed help. A marine unit arrived and pulled him from the river. He was offered, but declined, medical attention.

At about the same time as the rescue, agents assigned to the McAllen Station were arresting a group of 13 illegal immigrants near Hidalgo. Agents discovered one of the members of the group has a warrant for a parole violation in a child sexual abuse case out of the Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland. The man, who is a citizen of Guatemala, was turned over to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office pending extradition to Maryland.

In a separate incident later that evening near Fronton, agents assigned to the Rio Grande City Station saw four people with backpacks walking north from the river. As the agents attempted to apprehend the group, the smugglers dropped one of the backpacks and fled into the thick brush. Agents located one of the men near the river, but when he saw the agents he jumped into the river and swam to Mexico. Inside the backpack the agents found nearly 25 pounds of cocaine.

In addition, from Friday to Sunday agents confiscated more than 4,200 pounds of marijuana. The narcotics seized over the weekend were turned over to various agencies for further investigation.

http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/b ... rande.html