BLAINE, Wash. — Blaine Sector Border Patrol agents from the Sumas Station rescued three people in the mountains near Sumas Friday morning.
The rescue occurred after agents received a distress call from a woman who said she and two other people had been abandoned by a human smuggler and that they were stranded in the mountains. The agents were able to determine the individuals’ location based on GPS coordinates and photos sent from the woman’s phone.
Blaine Sector Special Operations Detachment conducted a technical rope rescue on the sheer face of the mountains at approximately 7:30 a.m. and rescued the three individuals.
All three were medically cleared and determined to be undocumented immigrants from Mexico.
“Human smugglers are callous individuals who do not value human life. They put these individual’s lives in danger by abandoning them in the mountains,” said Blaine Sector Chief Patrol Agent Rosario Vasquez. “Fortunately, in this case, Border Patrol agents who are highly trained in search-and-rescue techniques were able to locate them and get them safely out of the mountains.”