EL PASO -- The on-going crackdown on illegal border crossings is forcing drug and human smugglers to try new ways to avoid detection.

For decades smugglers have been searching for ways to cross over the bridges without being caught. This new tactic involves going under the bridge.

"In this case we happened to look up.  So, now it's something that we are aware of." said BorderPatrol agent Joe Romero.

Sunday afternoon the Border Patrol says they saw a man in a blue shirt hiding near a support beam under the Bridge of the Americas.

"(We) called out to him to see if he needed any type of help.  He wouldn't respond.  At that point theyfelt that maybe a rescue was in order.  They contacted the El Paso Fire Dept. They showed up with a ladder and they were able to bring the individual down," Romero said.

According to agents, the man is from Chile and, he's a registered sex offender in Dade County, Florida.

"He indicated that someone was supposed to come back and help him but basically he had been abandoned," Romero said.

Officials said he was abandoned because a wheel fell off the cart he used to travel under the
bridge.

"It almost provides a railway so they basically fitted a cart with wheels to fit underneath," Romero said. 

This is the 2nd time since January Border Patrol agents have found a cart like this. In February, Mexican authorities arrested 6 people with a similar cart in Juarez. 

The belief is the carts are used to smuggle drugs and / or individuals.
    
"There is nothing to say that the cart doesn't collapse and this individual falls 40 to 50 feet.  So,
it is ingenious or is it ruthless?  I would probably go more with ruthless because at this point they don'tcare about the people they are bringing across.  All they care about is getting their money," Romero said.

At this point, officials aren't sure yet if the individuals use a pulley system or have to push
themselves along.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said this latest arrest is indicative of the increasing dangers faced by immigrants as smugglers as they look for more creative methods to avoid the "Zero-Tolerance" policy in west Texas and New Mexico.

"Zero-Tolerance" is a new strategy in which all illegal immigrants caught crossing into the U.S. through El Paso or Sunland Park will be fingerprinted and entered into a database.  If they are caught crossing into the U.S. again, they will face criminal charges.

Before the initiative, illegal immigrants caught by Border Patrol agents were simply deported back to Mexico.