A woman and a juvenile ended up lost in the wilderness near the Mexico border on Thursday night. To sneak across the border, the illegal aliens hired human smugglers who gladly took their money and left them for dead in the Jacumba Wilderness region in Southern California.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the incident occurred around 7:40 p.m. local time when dispatchers in the El Centro Sector were notified by California Highway Patrol about two distressed individuals. A 34-year-old woman called to say that she and her 17-year-old cousin were abandoned by a larger group of illegal aliens and needed assistance. The woman also said her cousin had sprung his ankle.
GPS coordinates of the caller's position were forwarded to border patrol agents who conducted a search for the missing pair. Around 8.40 p.m., an Air and Marine Operations helicopter spotted an individual on the ground who was shining a light. The aircraft then directed ground agents to the individual's location.
The pair was found in good health with no major injuries. Both individuals declined further medical attention, and the two illegal aliens were expelled back to Mexico.
In April, Border Patrol agents encountered seven illegal aliens in the Jacumba Mountain Wilderness area south of Ocotillo, California. The individuals absconded from agents but were eventually apprehended. One individual, dehydrated and suffering from a heat-related illness, had to be carried out by the responding agents.
"Carrying a man out of this dangerous terrain and in this fearsome heat is no easy task," Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino said in a statement. "Our agents are having to routinely put their own safety at risk to save the lives of those who do not take the dangers of crossing illegally into the United States seriously."
CBP reports that more than 4,900 migrants were rescued along the southwest border in 2019.