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U.S. Border Patrol Yuma sector public affairs officer Michael Gramley pulls the cover off one of the rotors of a Border Patrol helicopter that was struck by a rock Tuesday night. Sun photo/Alfred J. Hernandez

Dan Whitcomb, Reuters, via Google News, reports:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. Border Patrol helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing after illegal immigrants pelted it with baseball-sized rocks, damaging a rotor, a spokesman for the agency said on Thursday.

There were no injuries as the helicopter’s pilot was able to set the aircraft down just north of the All American Canal on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, Border Patrol spokesman Michael Gramley said.

Authorities say smugglers are becoming increasingly willing to use violence against border patrol agents as their trade becomes more profitable, with smugglers able to earn about $2,000 per person.

The helicopter pilot was responding to a call for help from agents on the ground on Tuesday evening when about 10 people on the south bank of the canal began hurling large rocks at the aircraft.

“One of the rocks struck one of the three rotors and the pilot instantly felt a bad vibration as he was flying,” Gramley said. “He immediately made an emergency landing approximately 1 mile east of the incident.”

Gramley said agents on the ground caught 17 people who had crossed to the north side of the canal but most of the 10 seen throwing rocks escaped back across the border. Mexican authorities were contacted but did not arrest them, he said.

“We believe these 10 subjects were involved in alien smuggling,” he said. “We’ve seen an increased trend in the Yuma (Arizona) sector of violence by smugglers toward agents.” The incident took place on the California-Mexico border close to the Arizona state line.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.