Border Patrol: 2 men shot, wounded by smugglers near Sasabe, Ariz.
Posted Jan 1, 2025, 5:30 am
Paul Ingram
Border Patrol agents working in the remote desert west of Sasabe, Ariz., found two men with gunshot wounds received in Mexico, officials said.
While detaining a group of seven people on Dec. 19, U.S. border agents discovered a 22-year-old man shot in each of his upper thighs. Another man, 42, was shot in the ankle by "rival smugglers," officials with BP's Tucson Sector said Monday.
It remains unclear why the men were shot, however smuggling organizations in the area have been known to abuse and murder people.
In 2013, Border Patrol agents discovered a Mexican man who had crawled across the border after his throat had been cut. Mexican officials later found three others with slashed throats—two of whom were dead. Last winter, cartel activity—including widespread violence in Sasabe, Sonora— drove hundreds of Mexicans north, while migrants are pushed to the remote desert by smuggling organizations.
https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/010125_men_shot_sasabe/border-patrol-2-men-shot-wounded-by-smugglers-near-sasabe-ariz/