Arrests: 71,099 Canyons near Nogales and other rugged border terrain have become prime drug corridors. An agent was acquitted last year of murder in the shooting of an unarmed drug suspect, but remains under federal investigation. Others have been convicted of drug trafficking, perjury and stealing from prisoners.
El Paso
Agents: 624
Arrests: 251,661 Action is centered in urban strip across Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. There have been complaints about recent Border Patrol activities, including shootings, an alleged beating of a grandmother and abuse of students. A federal judge ruled agents have violated rights by stopping people solely because they look Latino.
Laredo
Agents: 365
Arrests: 72,604 A patrol supervisor, accused in off-duty murder, killed himself. Another was demoted for not reporting misconduct by agents. An agent received a 10-year suspended sentence for exposing himself to little girls. Commanders run their own driver's license checks on new agents, fearful that some may be wanted criminals who slipped through the screening process.
Yuma
Agents: 193
Arrests: 24,822 Sparsely populated desert area with relatively few illegal border crossings.
Marfa
Agents: 109
Arrests: 10,512 Remote area, including Texas' Big Band country.
Del Rio
Agents: 311
Arrests: 33,339 Rural agricultural region along the Rio Grande.
McAllen
Agents: 420
Arrests: 88,464 Favored route for Central American immigrants because of proximity to interior of Mexico; a prominent drug-smuggling zone.
* Number of agents through October, 1992; arrests for year ended Sept. 30, 1992
