Alleged drug smuggler shot to death by Border Patrol agent

Associated Press
Feb. 22, 2005 07:30 AM

NOGALES - A suspected drug smuggler has been shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent in southern Arizona just north of the U-S-Mexico border.

The shooting, which occurred early Saturday, is being investigated by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff Tony Estrada said the shooting took place after Border Patrol agents attempted to apprehend about a dozen people who were transporting some 300 pounds of marijuana in backpacks.

Estrada says the drug smugglers scattered and, for an unknown reason, an agent fired one shot, hitting a man and killing him.

The sheriff said deputies didn't find any weapon on the victim, who was an illegal immigrant. None of the other smugglers was apprehended.

The Mexican consul in Nogales says his government will ask for an investigation into the circumstances that led to the shooting.


So much for focusing on the Kingpins. This kind of thing is inevitable given the situation. None of the players involved deserve to be placed in this scenario.

The interaction between the Border Patrol and the illegal immigrants bears many similarities to the interaction between the [Byrne Grant Task Force/High Intensity Drug Trafficing Area] agents and the general US population.