Hapless immigrants who tried a novel way of entering the United States -- by driving a car over the US-Mexico border fence on makeshift ramps -- failed when the vehicle got stuck on top.
Two people fled back into Mexico after US border guards spotted the bold attempt to scale the 14-foot (4.3-meter) high fence in the early hours of Tuesday, said the US Custom and Border Patrol agency.
"Agents patrolling in the Imperial Sand Dunes area encountered a silver Jeep Cherokee attempting to drive over the International Boundary fence using a makeshift ramp that was not quite up to the task," said a CBP statement.
"When the vehicle made it to the top of the ramp, it became high-centered.... As agents arrived on scene, two subjects fled into Mexico. After removing the Jeep from the fence, agents seized both the vehicle and the ramps," it added.
US authorities have long battled to contain illegal immigration and smuggling across the southern border with Mexico, and the region is plagued by violence linked to traffickers of drugs and humans.
In 2007 a border patrol agent was killed near the area where the car got stuck on ramps, when he was deliberately struck by a vehicle as he tried to deflate its tires.
Tunnels underneath the border are regularly unearthed, some of them with highly sophisticated equipment and ventilation systems, and entrances typically concealed in warehouses or other structures near the frontier.
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