XAVIER ZARAGOZA/The Daily Dispatch

Border Patrol agents in Douglas have been feeling the heat as smugglers take aim at them.

Within the last six days smugglers have fired upon agents on the line.

On Wednesday at about 6 p.m. an agent saw several people standing near the international border fence by the Douglas International Airport.

The agent suspected they were migrants or drug lookouts, who were watching the area for Border Patrol.

Moments later the agent heard a gunshot and saw muzzle flash come from the location where the individuals were standing.

The agent heard the bullet whiz by. The agent then moved to a secure location and notified the agents in the area of the incident. No agents were harmed.

At about the same time east of the shooting incident, a white Chevrolet pick-up truck was attempting to cross the border illegally. Agents in the scene believe that the truck may have been loaded with drugs.

The shooting is also believed to have been a ploy to distract the agents so that the truck could drive across the border undetected.

The truck fled back into Mexico when the driver spotted the agents.

The second shooting occurred on Friday at about 6 p.m. when an agent was patrolling near the Douglas Airport.

The agent heard three gunshots coming from Mexico and immediately moved to a secure location.

No agents were injured but the agent's vehicle had been hit twice. One bullet went through the rear tire of the driver's side and another one went through the front bumper and into the motor.

The third shooting was at 12:30 a.m. Monday. An agent patrolling the border two miles east of Douglas heard four gunshots coming from Mexico. Upon later inspection, the agents found four bullet holes in the Plexiglas that protects the solar panels of the remote video surveillance site.

Since Oct. 1, 2004, agents in the Tucson sector have been assaulted 80 times, nine of which have been shooting related.