Increase in drug and people traffic: Drug smugglers fired at BP agents Sunday, Monday
COCHISE COUNTY -- Since the beginning of the year, U.S. Border Patrol agents have recorded an increase of both illegal immigrant and drug smuggling traffic along the border and signs are that those bringing in marijuana are becoming more dangerous, a spokesman for the agency's Tucson Sector said this morning.
On Sunday and Monday, agents in Cochise County were fired at by drug smugglers, Rob Daniels said.
Sunday, Naco Station agents attempted to stop a white Chevrolet Z-71 truck heading east on Border Road, Daniels said. The driver headed back toward Mexico, but the vehicle became stuck. The driver fled and made it back into Mexico where the drug smuggler fired at the agents. Agents found 1,165 pounds of marijuana inside the truck. Monday morning's incident happened at Cattleman Road near Douglas, he said. As agents approached the fence to stop some people from crossing the border, someone in the group fired at them. After the incident, agents found 168 pounds of marijuana on the American side near where the shots were fired.
Another incident involving the discovery of 157 pounds of marijuana on Saturday also included picking up a loaded semi-automatic handgun along Geronimo Trail Road northeast of Douglas, Daniels said.
For the first 13 days of this month, 7,951 pounds of marijuana were confiscated in Cochise County, with agents from the Douglas Station seizing 6,146 pounds, Naco Station, 1,623 pounds and Willcox Station, 182 pounds, Daniels said. Last year, the same 13-day period saw 1,192 pounds confiscated in the county.
Daniels noted there has been a 1,333 percent increase in marijuana discovered by Douglas Station agents this year compared to last year's 429 pounds.
As for illegal immigrant traffic, he said that too has increased during the first 13 days of this year, compared to the same period in 2002. "After the 6th (of January) we started to see increased activity," Daniels said. Many illegal immigrants from Mexico try to return to the United States after the traditional Feast of Three Kings, which celebrates the arrival of the three wisemen's visit to Christ. Many illegal immigrants return to Mexico for the Christmas holidays.
The total for the three stations in Cochise County is 4,075 apprehensions this year, or nearly half of all taken into custody in the Tucson Sector, which includes more than 260 miles of the border, compared to 3,338 last year during the first 13 days of January. Cochise County shares about 86 miles of border with Mexico.