Border Patrol agents disrupted the attempted drowning of a Mexican national in the Rio Grande River who had just been deported. Laredo Sector officials said an armed group of men attempted to drown the man after chasing him into the middle of the river border with Mexico.

Laredo South Station Border Patrol agents came upon the scene of a group of four men located on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River border between Texas and Mexico Monday afternoon. Two of the men chased a third into the river and began an attempt to drown him, Laredo Sector Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Anthony S. Good told Breitbart Texas in a phone interview Tuesday morning.

“Our agents quickly made their presence known to the individuals who were attempting to drown the man in the river,” Chief Good said. “Once they saw our agents were armed with long guns, the two men fled back to the Mexican side of the border.”

Good said the two men began speaking with the other man on the border who was visibly armed with a handgun.

“We contacted our Mexican law enforcement partners,” Good stated, “but by the time they arrived the three suspects had absconded.”

The victim appeared to float in a near lifeless posture in the river, he said.

Laredo Sector emergency medical technicians arrived on the scene by the time the other agents removed the semi-conscious man from the river. After providing initial treatment, agents called an ambulance to transport the man to a local hospital. The migrant is expected to fully recover from his drowning injuries, Good said. He remains hospitalized on Tuesday.

The chief said that a background check on the man revealed he has been deported at least twice from the U.S. The most recent deportation occurred on the same day as the drowning attempt. He had been removed from the Webb County jail on Monday and transported across the river to Mexico.

The chief said it is easy for foreign nationals to cross the border at will in the Laredo Sector. “We have low-level technology and very little infrastructure,” Good explained. There are 170 river miles of border in the Laredo Sector and zero miles of fencing or walls.

As the drowning took place on the U.S. side of the river, the previously deported migrant could face prosecution on federal felony charges of illegal re-entry after removal.

“This incident happened very quickly,” the chief told Breitbart Texas. “It shows just how dangerous this area can be for our agents.”

Had the agents not been there, it is very likely the man would have been murdered by the armed Mexican crew.