WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- Illegal aliens and those who smuggle them are setting fires that threaten U.S. Border Patrol agents, officials in Washington said.
"As larger areas of the border come under operational control, we can expect violence to increase as smuggling operations can no longer operate with impunity and do not have unfettered access to the border for their criminal activities," Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar told a congressional Homeland Security subcommittee this year, The Washington Times reported.
"This explosion of aggression is an indicator how desperate and angry drug and human traffickers are at the increasing disruption of their smuggling routes," he said.
In the Coronado National Forest in Arizona, at least five fires were set beneath a Border Patrol observation post during a recent operation that targeted illegal aliens. Molotov cocktails sparked two fires at the San Luis, Ariz., port of entry this month, the Times reported.
