Migrant smugglers ‘becoming desperate,’ don body armor and shoot at border agents: officials

Migrant smugglers are growing increasingly desperate and violent — heavily arming themselves, donning body armor and even firing at US border agents — to get their illegal customers from Mexico to California.

The recent uptick in drastic tactics by coyotes, or people-smugglers for hire, includes an Aug. 18 incident in which a Border Patrol agent tried to stop a group of migrants crossing into California through the Otay Mountain Wilderness, US authorities said.

A suspected smuggler fired multiple shots at the agent, US Customs and Border Protection said in a statement, claiming the criminals’ desperation is being driven by the agency’s efforts to crack down.

When fellow agents responded to the shots, they could see the muzzle flashes coming from the migrant group, with a second volley of gunfire aimed at the officers, authorities said.

The agents quickly took cover as the migrant group ran back into Mexico. No agents were reported injured as a result of the incident.

“Smuggling organizations are becoming desperate and escalating their level of violence because of the work being performed by U.S. Border Patrol agents,” said San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Patricia McGurk-Daniel in a statement.

“Our agents are preventing smugglers from conducting their illicit business and this is their very dangerous response,” McGurk-Daniel said. “This callous display clearly shows that smugglers do not care about the safety of migrants or law enforcement.”

Just days after the shooting incident, on Aug. 22, a US National Guard officer spotted an armed individual climbing over the border fence in the Otay Mountain Wilderness.

Then a day later, two more armed suspects were seen in the area. But a sweep by border agents came up empty.

US and Mexican officials said they are coordinating to try to capture the armed individuals.

“These incidents and individuals pose a significant danger to agents patrolling the area as well as migrants attempting to illegally enter,” McGurk-Daniel said.  

The joint effort comes as Mexico’s Institute of Migration warned that its agents cracking down on illegal border crossings have come across heavily armed smugglers in recent months, adding that they, too, have seen coyotes fire at border agents.

Earlier this month, a trio of men were spotted crossing the border into Texas wielding rifles and outfitted with body armor.

In a similar incident in June, five suspected members of the Cartel Del Noreste were arrested in the same area after illegally crossing the border armed with rifles and tactical gear.