Archive image: CBP Air and Marine Operations UH-60 Black Hawk aircrews arriving in Louisiana on August 26, 2020, before Hurricane Laura made landfall.
CBP AMO aircrews were prepared for possible search and rescue (SAR) operations.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection photo by Ozzy Trevino.
TUCSON, Arizona.— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) UH-60 Black Hawk aircrews rescue 5 migrants trapped in rugged terrain in the Peloncillo Mountain range over the weekend.
Friday rescue
Friday afternoon, a Tucson Air Branch UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter aircrew responded to an air support request Douglas Station Horse Patrol Agents for a group of migrants who were experiencing heat exhaustion. The UH-60 aircrew was joined by three members of Tucson Sector’s Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) Unit; one of which was a Paramedic. The first patient was unresponsive and seizing.
After inserting two AMO Rescue Specialists to clear a landing zone, the migrant was loaded onto the aircraft and flown to an awaiting air ambulance. A second migrant suffering from heat exhaustion and delirious was then lifted to an awaiting Douglas Fire crew who also responded. The third migrant was unable to walk, necessitating the individual to be raised into the aircraft via hoist along with an AMO Rescue Specialist. The patient was also flown to awaiting Douglas Fire Department personnel for transport by ground ambulance.
Sunday rescue
Sunday evening, an air support request resulted in a Tucson Air Branch UH-60 Black Hawk aircrew being dispatched to the Peloncillo Mountain Range near the Arizona / New Mexico border.
After finding an acceptable landing zone in the harsh/steep mountainous terrain, the first patient was loaded along with a member of the Douglas Horse Patrol Unit. The patient was airlifted to an awaiting air ambulance.
The CBP-AMO UH-60 Black Hawk aircrew returned to retrieve the second individual who was taken to a waiting ground ambulance for transport to the same hospital in Sierra Vista. The horse Patrol Unit member was flown back to the rest of his team, to walk the remaining seven migrants in the group to awaiting transportation to the station for processing.
“Our aircrews are trained and capable of rapidly shifting from operational missions to humanitarian roles,” stated Jessie Scruggs, Director of Air and Marine Operations, Tucson Air Branch. “These two incidents represent what our aircrews are called to assist agents on the ground who encounter the growing number of migrants who become distressed by the unrelentless conditions they are placed in by callous smugglers.”
Transnational criminal organizations continue to recklessly endanger the lives of individuals they smuggle across difficult terrain and hot temperatures for their own financial gain. Smuggling organizations are abandoning migrants in remote and dangerous areas, leading to a rise in the number of rescues CBP has performed.
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