CALEXICO, Calif. (WHDH) — Human smugglers were caught on camera lowering a mother and her two young children, as well as two other adults, by rope down a 30-foot section of the border wall early Thursday morning.
Camera operators assigned to the El Centro Station’s Remote Video Surveillance System saw a man being lowered down the wall about three miles west of the Calexico West Port of Entry, according to United States Customs and Border Protection.
They then saw another man being lowered with a small child clinging on to his back, followed by a woman holding on to another child, CBP said.
Three smugglers allegedly provided a ladder to climb the fence on the Mexican side, as well as a rope to physically lower the three adults and two children down the border wall into the U.S.
“Smugglers often use this tactic to minimize their own risk of injury,” said Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino. “They are willing to put others in jeopardy, including children, even when they won’t risk themselves.”
Agents took the three adults with the two children into custody.
“These heartless, greedy smugglers continue to endanger the lives of undocumented individuals for money,” said Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino. “We were lucky that the mother and her two children, as well as the other two men, were not dropped from the 30-foot border wall. I implore those who are looking to hire these smugglers to consider the extreme dangers of crossing the border illegally into the United States.”
Agents learned that the two children, a 2-year-old girl, and a 6-year-old boy, as well as their 32-year-old mother were all undocumented individuals from Venezuela, CPB said.
The two other adults, a 28-year-old man and a 31-year-old man, were also reportedly undocumented individuals from Venezuela, who had no relation to the mother and two children.
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