9 illegal immigrants caught in GV

Nine suspected illegal immigrants was apprehended Friday night in Green Valley after a Sheriff’s deputy stopped a truck on Camino del Sol.

The stop came around 7:45 p.m., when a deputy noticed a pickup driving south from the end of Camino del Sol onto a dirt road near the Canoa Ranch Golf Club, an area known for smuggling activity, according to the Sheriff’s report. The truck returned a few minutes later and headed north on Camino del Sol at a high rate of speed.

The deputy pursued the truck, which minutes later stopped north of Calle Tres near Vista Ridge Drive, before the driver and a passenger fled on foot, according to the report.

Authorities found six people lying in the bed of the truck covered with a blanket and found another man in the cab. The two men who fled the scene were found, and all nine were turned over to the Border Patrol.

The Sheriff’s report said the truck was outfitted with an air suspension system, commonly found on smuggling vehicles, which prevents the truck from sagging from the excess weight of carrying multiple people.

Deaths in the Desert

In other border-related news, agents discovered the bodies of two suspected illegal immigrants over the weekend.

Border Patrol agents assigned to the Tucson Station discovered decomposing human remains on Saturday near Three Points, northwest of Green Valley. Agents assigned to the Casa Grande Station discovered skeletal remains Sunday on the Tohono O’odham Reservation, northwest of Santa Rosa Ranch near Sells.

Since September 2008, agents in the Tucson Sector have discovered almost 200 bodies of suspected illegal immigrants, and rescued 549. At the same time last year, there were 160 deaths, and 444 rescues.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726