25 Migrants Rescued in Arizona Desert Human Smuggling Incidents -- 5 Still Missing

Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents rescued 25 migrants during multiple human smuggling incidents in the Sonoran Desert over the weekend. Five others remain lost after agents exhausted search and rescue efforts.

Welton Station Border Patrol agents received information on Friday received information from Mexico’s C5 (911 service) about a group of three migrants who requested assistance after becoming lost in the desert, according to information received from Yuma Sector Border Patrol officials. Sector officials dispatched Border Patrol agents to the GPS coordinates provided by C5 officials.

Agents located two migrants approximately 35 miles east of Tacna, Arizona. A medical assessment revealed one of the migrants needed life-saving medical care. The agents contacted AeroCare for an air ambulance helicopter. The helicopter aircrew transported the 23-year-old Mexican male to a Phoenix-area hospital where he is still reported to be receiving medical care.

Agents evaluated the second migrant and determined the 31-year-old Honduran man did not need medical attention and placed him under arrest for illegally entering the United States.

While the agents took care of these two migrants, other agents spotted smoke from a fire approximately five miles from the initial rescue operation. Agents tracked down the source of the smoke and found the third migrant from the original group. An Emergency Medical Technician-trained Border Patrol agent treated the 22-year-old Honduran man for dehydration and arranged transportation to the Yuma Regional Medical Center.

Agents found two more migrants from the same group the following morning at a location closer to the Mexican border. The agents identified the two men, one of whom had called 911 the day before, as Mexican nationals, ages 24 and 35. An EMT agent reported the migrants to be in good health and arranged transportation for them to the Welton Border Patrol station for processing.

The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office contacted Welton Station agents on Saturday evening regarding a 911 call reporting four migrants lost in the desert. Sheriff’s office officials said the migrants were in distress and need water.

Border Patrol agents responded and found three members of the group about 20 miles southeast of Dateland, Arizona. The agents provided the migrants with water and arranged transportation to the Welton Station. The fourth migrant has yet to be located, officials stated on Monday.

Welton Station agents received information about another 911 call Sunday morning. The caller said two migrants were lost in the desert and were in distress. The agents contacted the Yuma Air Branch of CBP’s Air and Marine Operations for assistance. An aircrew was not immediately available so agents then contacted the Arizona Department of Public Safety for a helicopter aircrew.

Agents from the Yuma Sector Border Search, Trauma, and Rescue team to assist in the SAR operation. The agents located the migrants who were conscious but severely dehydrated, officials reported. The DPS aircrew transported the distressed migrants, a 29-year-old Mexican man and a 37-year-old Guatemalan female to the Tri-Valley ambulance waiting to take them to the Yuma Regional Medical Center for further treatment.

Yuma Sector officials report that agents received a total of ten calls for assistance between Friday and Sunday night. The rescue operations led to the saving of 25 mostly lost migrants. Five migrants reported missing have not yet been found, officials said.