Photo By U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Ajo agents apprehend a group of 100 men, women, and children in southern Arizona.
Contributed Article/Courtesy U.S. Customs and Border Protection
AJO – Ajo Station Border Patrol agents patrolling west of the Lukeville Port of Entry encountered two large groups totaling 264 adults and children within the last day.
Agents encountered the first group of 164 persons Tuesday afternoon. The second group of 100 persons was discovered on Wednesday in the same general location where the first group was found.
Both groups consisted of family units and unaccompanied juveniles from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, ranging in age from 11 months to 59 years.
Agents transported the groups, found to be in good health, to the Ajo Border Patrol Station to be processed for immigration violations.
In the last three months, agents have arrested more than 1,200 people, in similar group sizes, within the same general vicinity.
Illicit transnational criminal organizations exploit the vulnerability of foreign nationals with false promises of legal status and encourage dangerous border crossings, placing lives at risk.