IRENE HSIAO

U.S. Border Patrol agents captured 364 suspected illegal immigrants last weekend in Green Valley and near Arivaca.
The apprehensions are significant, said Border Patrol spokesman Andy Adame.

"It's not every day you run into a group near 100, let alone 100 plus," Adame said.

Agents Saturday spotted a group of 174 suspected illegal immigrants from Mexico at about 8:30 a.m. on the railroad tracks south of Elephant Head Road in Green Valley, he said. Each immigrant had paid or agreed to pay $1,600 to be smuggled to various places in the United States, Adame said, based on information from interviews.

The group of mostly men and some woman ranged from infants to elderly, Adame said.

At 9 p.m. Sunday, Border Patrol agents took 190 suspected illegal immigrants from a rugged region a half-mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border and just west of Tres Bellotas Road near Arivaca, he said.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement air unit alerted agents after it saw the group moving north from the border, Adame said.

No smugglers have been identified in either group, he said. Smugglers often try to blend in when they are caught, Adame said.

"It's almost impossible to pinpoint who the smuggler is," he said.

Illegal immigrants who have criminal histories in the United States will be held for prosecution, and the others will be returned to Mexico, Adame said.