One US Border Agent Killed, More Wounded in Deadly Shootout With Smugglers

One U.S. border agent was killed and four others wounded in a deadly Nov. 17 shootout with drug smugglers off the coast of Puerto Rico. The Thursday morning incident was first reported by Anna Giaritelli of the Washington Examiner.

The shootout occurred around 8 a.m. local time, after agents encountered what appeared to be a smuggling vessel 14 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico. 

SCOOP: CBP sources say 5 U.S. border agents shot, including one fatally, by narcos off the coast of Puerto Rico

The agents are not Border Patrol, but from Customs & Border Protection's Air & Marine Operations arm.

The agents were taken back to land and life-flighted.@CBPAMO pic.twitter.com/5wQdXXmxgw

— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) November 17, 2022

Several Customs and Border Protection marine agents were “involved in an exchange of gunfire with individuals on board a suspected smuggling vessel upon approach 14 miles off the coast of Cabo Rojo Puerto Rico,” the CBP told Giaritelli. “The Marine Agents suffered various gunshot injuries as a result.”

The agents were from the CBP’s Air and Marine Operations arm. The CBP and Coast Guard responded to fly the injured agents to a hospital in Puerto Rico.