see also: in March 2007 News Releases:   SBInet Completes Test of First Mobile Sensor Tower   Nogales Border Patrol Seizes 6 Tons of Marijuana from Garbage Truck   El Paso CBP Officers Make Largest Drug Bust In 2 Years   CBP Seizes $709,291 in Undeclared Currency at Laredo Port of Entry   Border Patrol Seizes $13 Million in Cocaine Near Hidalgo, Texas   El Paso CBP Offers Tips For Quick, Safe Easter Holiday Border Crossings   Border Patrol Assists Man Bitten by Snake ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

contacts for this news release

Dateland, Ariz. — Early yesterday morning, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents from the Wellton station rescued six illegal aliens who had run out of water and became lost in the desert two miles south of milepost 77 on Interstate 8 east of Dateland, Ariz.

At 12:20 a.m., an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer found three individuals near milepost 77, who were deemed to be illegal aliens. The three claimed that there were still several people, including two women, in the desert who had been left without water and were in need of help. The officer notified the Wellton Border Patrol station about the situation.

Wellton Border Patrol and BORSTAR agents responded to the area and began to track the footprints south from Interstate 8. At 4:45 a.m. agents located the group of six and began assessing their condition. No one in the group requested medical attention and all were transported to the Wellton Border Patrol station for processing.

Since the beginning of fiscal year October 1, 2006 through February 28, CBP Border Patrol agents in the Yuma Sector have rescued 29 individuals compared to 142 during the same time period last year. During fiscal years 2005 and 2006, a total of 791 people were rescued in the Yuma Sector.

If you see or hear any suspicious activity of interest to the Border Patrol, please call toll free at 1-866-999-USBP (8727).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.