Arizona Republic (by Daniel Gonzalez): Violent attacks on groups of illegal immigrants being smuggled into the U.S. were common in Arizona several years ago as rival organizations battled over the lucrative immigrant- and drug- smuggling trades.
But such attacks, like the one that left two migrants dead near Eloy on Sunday, have been declining in recent years as a result of a drop in illegal immigration and a crackdown on violent smuggling organizations, law-enforcement officials say.
"It's been more sporadic over time," said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Phoenix.
On Sunday, gunmen wearing camouflage clothing and armed with rifles opened fire on a pickup truck loaded with 20 to 30 immigrants believed to be in the country illegally, killing two people, according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
On Wednesday, the Sheriff's Department identified one of the dead migrants as Gerardo Perez Ruiz, 39, a Mexican national.
Investigators were still trying to confirm the identify of the second victim, believed to be from Guatemala, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a spokeswoman for the department.
No arrests had been made as of Wednesday.
Barkman said violent attacks on groups of illegal immigrants had "decreased significantly" in recent years after the department created a "border crimes unit" in April 2007 to crack down on smuggling organizations.
The unit patrols in remote desert areas used by smuggling organizations to transport loads of drugs and illegal immigrants into the country, she said.
"They were very successful in eliminating a lot of that activity," she said.
She said it had been five years since the last incident involving a violent attack on a load of illegal immigrants by so-called rip crews, or bajadores.
In March 2007, gunmen wearing dark clothing ambushed a vehicle loaded with more than 20 illegal immigrants near Green Valley, south of Tucson, killing two people.
Three months earlier, four men wearing camouflage and berets and armed with an assault weapon killed a smuggling suspect and wounded another person after ambushing a vehicle in a field about 40 miles north of Eloy in Pinal County.
One of the most high-profile attacks took place in November 2003, when gunmen opened fired on a van carrying a load of illegal immigrants on Interstate 10 between Casa Grande and Phoenix. Four people were killed and five others were wounded in that attack.
Allen, the ICE special agent, said rip crews have been around for decades. They wait on the U.S. side of the border to ambush organizations transporting drugs or illegal immigrants across the border and then steal their loads.
"Without a whole lot of investment up front they can either sell those drugs or extort a smuggling fee from the aliens that they capture," Allen said.
He said they sometimes start shooting when the smugglers they are trying to ambush refuse to stop.
"Out of frustration and complete reckless disregard for everybody, they start shooting at the vehicle to try and get them to stop," Allen said. "They view either the people or the drugs as a commodity, but at some point they lose sight of the fact that if you want to extort a smuggling fee out of those people, it's very difficult to do when the person you are trying to extort the smuggling fee out of is dead or wounded."
He said tighter border security led to an increase in rip crews. But their activity has decreased in recent years due to an overall decrease in illegal immigration.
Mario Escalante, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, said that historically, human-smuggling activity spiked in the spring, when the number of illegal immigrants seeking jobs in agriculture or construction increased.
But illegal immigration has not increased in the spring based on apprehensions by the Border Patrol, he said.
Through March of this fiscal year, about 64,000 apprehensions have been made in the Tucson Sector, compared with about 66,000 during the same period last year, he said.
But such attacks, like the one that left two migrants dead near Eloy on Sunday, have been declining in recent years as a result of a drop in illegal immigration and a crackdown on violent smuggling organizations, law-enforcement officials say.
"It's been more sporadic over time," said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Phoenix.
On Sunday, gunmen wearing camouflage clothing and armed with rifles opened fire on a pickup truck loaded with 20 to 30 immigrants believed to be in the country illegally, killing two people, according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
On Wednesday, the Sheriff's Department identified one of the dead migrants as Gerardo Perez Ruiz, 39, a Mexican national.
Investigators were still trying to confirm the identify of the second victim, believed to be from Guatemala, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a spokeswoman for the department.
No arrests had been made as of Wednesday.
Barkman said violent attacks on groups of illegal immigrants had "decreased significantly" in recent years after the department created a "border crimes unit" in April 2007 to crack down on smuggling organizations.
The unit patrols in remote desert areas used by smuggling organizations to transport loads of drugs and illegal immigrants into the country, she said.
"They were very successful in eliminating a lot of that activity," she said.
She said it had been five years since the last incident involving a violent attack on a load of illegal immigrants by so-called rip crews, or bajadores.
In March 2007, gunmen wearing dark clothing ambushed a vehicle loaded with more than 20 illegal immigrants near Green Valley, south of Tucson, killing two people.
Three months earlier, four men wearing camouflage and berets and armed with an assault weapon killed a smuggling suspect and wounded another person after ambushing a vehicle in a field about 40 miles north of Eloy in Pinal County.
One of the most high-profile attacks took place in November 2003, when gunmen opened fired on a van carrying a load of illegal immigrants on Interstate 10 between Casa Grande and Phoenix. Four people were killed and five others were wounded in that attack.
Allen, the ICE special agent, said rip crews have been around for decades. They wait on the U.S. side of the border to ambush organizations transporting drugs or illegal immigrants across the border and then steal their loads.
"Without a whole lot of investment up front they can either sell those drugs or extort a smuggling fee from the aliens that they capture," Allen said.
He said they sometimes start shooting when the smugglers they are trying to ambush refuse to stop.
"Out of frustration and complete reckless disregard for everybody, they start shooting at the vehicle to try and get them to stop," Allen said. "They view either the people or the drugs as a commodity, but at some point they lose sight of the fact that if you want to extort a smuggling fee out of those people, it's very difficult to do when the person you are trying to extort the smuggling fee out of is dead or wounded."
He said tighter border security led to an increase in rip crews. But their activity has decreased in recent years due to an overall decrease in illegal immigration.
Mario Escalante, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, said that historically, human-smuggling activity spiked in the spring, when the number of illegal immigrants seeking jobs in agriculture or construction increased.
But illegal immigration has not increased in the spring based on apprehensions by the Border Patrol, he said.
Through March of this fiscal year, about 64,000 apprehensions have been made in the Tucson Sector, compared with about 66,000 during the same period last year, he said.
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