Smuggler shoves migrants out of truck during chase with Arizona border agents, feds say

A smuggler pursued by border agents slowed down to toss three Guatemalan migrants from his pickup truck onto the roadway, authorities said.

Agents tried to stop the black Dodge truck on Interstate 19 at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, March 27, near Sells, Arizona, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection news release said.

The driver raced north at speeds up to 80 mph before slowing to shove three men from the truck, the release said.

Agents stopped chasing the truck to help the men, ages 16, 25 and 28, the release said. The men were taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

Authorities later found the truck abandoned with a 9mm pistol, fentanyl, cocaine and marijuana still inside, the release said. The driver has not been found.

Border agents continue “to see smugglers treat migrants cruelly by robbing them, forcing them to walk through inhospitable areas of the desert and abandoning them without regard for their safety,” the release said.

“Smugglers do not care about a person’s life, only about monetary gain,” the release said.

Sells is a community of 2,600 people in the Tohono O’odham Nation near the U.S.-Mexico border southwest of Tucson.

This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Smuggler shoves migrants out of truck during chase with Arizona border agents, feds say."