Video Shows Smuggler Abandoning 7-Year-Old Girl Near Border in California

A new video shows a smuggler abandoning a 7-year-old girl near the U.S.-Mexico border in California.

"A 7 y/o girl was left alone by her smuggler after a #dangerous descent from the border wall. She traveled from El Salvador to Mexico (alone) before being taken to a house for several days w other children," U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent for the El Centro Sector, Gregory K. Bovino wrote in a tweet with the video.

"I'm standing in the exact spot where a young 7-year-old juvenile was trafficked across this border by an unscrupulous alien smuggler," Bovino said before the surveillance footage of the incident begins.

As the video begins, the smuggler can be seen carrying the 7-year-old girl on his back while he slowly climbs down the 30-foot border wall.

After the smuggler and the child make it to the bottom of the wall on the U.S. side, the child is abandoned "in a remote section of the border with no food or water," Bovino said.

According to Bovino, the area where the 7-year-old girl was abandoned is approximately 50 feet away from the "swift-flowing All-American Canal, which has already claimed the lives of numerous migrants this year."

After the smuggler abandoned the child over the border, the smuggler can be seen climbing back over the border wall towards Mexico

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a press release that the incident occurred on Tuesday morning at around 9:25 a.m. local time. The press release stated that CBP agents noticed that the situation was potentially dangerous and made the decision to wait for the 7-year-old child to reach the ground before heading to the area.

"This decision was made out of caution, believing that the smuggler might panic and drop the child, resulting in serious injury or death given the height of the border wall," the press release said.

CBP said that after agents approached the child, they conducted a welfare check and brought her back to their vehicle. The 7-year-old child was eventually transported to CBP's El Centro Sector Processing Center for processing and further medical evaluations.

"No one, let alone a child of any age or race, should be exposed to the multitude of dangers when crossing illegally into this country," Bovino said in the press release. "Smugglers will always view children as a commodity to gain a profit, disregarding the safety and well-being of any individual except their own."

Newsweek was directed to the tweet by Bovino after reaching out to CBP for comment.