River News Now Breaking News Travel

Deming, New Mexico - On Saturday, El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents discovered that they may have been the target of more acts of violence after discovering an apparent booby trap made of wire on a remote border road near Deming.

On June 14, agents assigned to the Deming Border Patrol Station received a call from a local rancher who informed them of a discovery she made of some wires stretched across a patch of dirt roadway. The wires had been pulled tight and set to a height that could have had dire consequences for agents or anyone riding on an all-terrain vehicle. Narcotics traffickers as well as Border Patrol agents operating on ATV’s, horse patrol officers and agents in service vehicles commonly use the road. The two thin wires were set across the road and fastened to a border fence post, then wrapped around a mesquite bush in an attempt to conceal it.

Earlier this year, a similar scenario was discovered in the San Diego Sector Border Patrol. This most recent incident exemplifies the constant dangers that Border Patrol agents are subjected to on a daily basis while securing our nations borders.

In fiscal year 2007, the volume of assaults on agents rose in the El Paso Sector by more than 32 percent. So far this year, assaults on agents have increased by approximately 26 percent.