EL PASO, Texas — According to the Associated Press, about a dozen railroad bandits ambushed two FBI agents during a sting, kicking them and beating them with rocks, authorities said Friday.
The agents were hospitalized in critical condition with head injuries and were in induced comas Friday, said agent-in-charge Hardrick Crawford Jr.
Other agents arrested 16 people after the attack Thursday in the Sunland Park-Anapra area of New Mexico, just across the Texas line and yards from the Mexican border. The charges included train robbery and assault.
The agents were investigating thefts of interstate shipments from the railroads, which have cost the railroads more than $1 million a year, FBI spokesman Al Cruz said.
The FBI said the suspects jumped onto the train where it had to slow down for a sharp bend in the tracks. Tipped to a possible theft, agents confronted the alleged bandits, and 10 to 12 of them attacked agents Sergio Barrio, 39, and Samantha Mikeska, 38, the bureau said.
“Two agents were overwhelmed by Mexican nationals who had already mounted the train,” Crawford said. “Those agents were dragged into Mexico, kicked and beaten, hit with rocks.”
Gangs from Mexico have been robbing trains in the area for years, Crawford said, and law enforcement agencies regularly conduct sting operations.
The suspects were in federal custody in a Sunland Park, N.M.