Hourly Update

Assaults on Border Patrol agents up over last three weeks

Eleven Tucson Sector Border Patrol Agents have been assaulted in the last 20 days, officials say. Most recently, a Border Patrol Agent in Nogales was assaulted Wednesday as he tried to arrest several drug smugglers near Amado, about 40 miles south of Tucson, said spokesman Andy Adame. The agent saw 10 people carrying bundles of drugs on their backs near milepost 14 on Arivaca Road using a night vision scope, he said. When he tried to stop them, the smugglers ran away but returned and fired at least three shots at the agent, who fired at least four rounds in return, Adame said. No one was injured. "The Border Patrol is increasing the pressure daily on alien and drug smugglers," Adame said in a press statement. "Shooting at us is not going to discourage us from doing our job." More agents and a Border Patrol helicopter went to the scene. They didn't find smugglers, but they did find eight bundles of marijuana, weighing 337 pounds, Adame said. The estimated value of the drugs is about $270,000. Read more about it in tomorrow's Arizona Daily Star.