Border Patrol agents in the Tucson Sector carried a wounded illegal alien, on their backs, down a mountain top in Arizona. The rescue began late Tuesday night after a helicopter located the injured individual stranded in the desert just south of Gila Bend.
A helicopter spotted the man on top of a rugged mountain peak and directed agents to his location. Once agents arrived on scene, agents found the man unable to walk and took turns carrying him "over their shoulders for more than a mile over rocky, loose terrain back down the mountain," U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement.
The wounded man was determined to be a 24-year-old illegal alien from Mexico. He was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment and will be processed for immigration violations once he is deemed medically fit, according to CBP.
"We work day and night with our partners to keep people safe," said Tucson Sector Border Patrol Chief Roy Villareal. "Smugglers don’t care if border crossers live or die, but for our agents, saving lives is a top priority."
CBP reports that the Tucson Sector has performed over 1,000 rescues in the current fiscal year, and many of those rescues happened after a foot guide smuggling people into the United States left behind an individual who could not complete the journey.
Last Thursday, Border Patrol agents rescued a woman and a juvenile who became lost in the California wilderness after the pair was abandoned by their human smugglers.
CBP reports that more than 4,900 migrants were rescued along the southwest border in 2019.