Suspected smugglers attack Border Patrol agents with rocks

SOUTH OF SAN JUAN — A group of suspected drug smugglers attacked two U.S. Border Patrol agents with rocks during a chase near the Rio Grande on Thursday evening.

Agents were following a vehicle loaded with marijuana when the driver stopped at the riverbank and fled on foot, Border Patrol spokesman John Lopez said.

As agents approached the vehicle to retrieve the drugs, five men emerged from the dense brush and began hurling large rocks at them.

“For what reason, that’s unknown to us,” Lopez said about the group’s possible motive. “But the danger presented by a rock in that area is very real.”

One of the agents, fearing for his own life and that of his partner, fired his weapon toward the group, Lopez said.

The five men struck the Border Patrol vehicle with rocks numerous times before fleeing toward Mexico. No arrests were made in connection with the attack and no injuries were reported.

The vehicle was carrying about 751 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $601,000.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized the narcotics and the vehicle.

Lopez said the agency is coordinating with Mexican authorities to find the men and determine if any were shot as they fled.

On Tuesday, authorities arrested an 18-year-old who told investigators he struck a Border Patrol agent with an ATV and fled the scene.

Orlando Lara told investigators he rammed into Agent Anthony Gutierrez that night near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 1427 and Military Highway, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in McAllen.

Dazed and fearing for his life after the collision, the injured agent fired at least one gunshot as the ATV sped away from the scene, Lopez said.

If convicted of assaulting a federal agent, Lara could spend up to 20 years in federal prison.

Gutierrez told FBI agents he was stunned, his forehead was bleeding, he had temporarily lost vision in one eye, and he believed both his legs were broken, the criminal complaint in that case states.

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Ana Ley covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.