U.S. federal agents plucked a 9-year-old boy with a massive tumor from a dangerous city in Mexico and transported him in an armored vehicle across the border for treatment, the Associated Press reports.
The boy, who was only identified as Jose, was whisked from Ciudad Juarez, one of the "deadliest cities in the world" due to the gang activity, according to the report.
The help began when members of the New Mexico Baptist church spotted the boy and decided to figure out a way to get him treatment.
"He just came up to us and offered to carry groceries," pastor Si Budagher told the AP. "The Lord put him in front of us."
The family has been given a 45-day humanitarian visa to seek treatment in New Mexico for Jose's tumor, which his parents told the AP has grown so big on his neck and shoulder that it affects his eyesight and may move into his heart.
The report states it's still unclear what procedures Jose will have to undergo, or if he will have to return. When asked what he wants to do when his tumor is removed, Jose told the AP he wants to "play soccer," and "maybe ride a bike."
According to a report by the Associated Press from July of last year, Ciudad Juarez documented 1,642 killings by gangs in the first half of 2011. The report states the city's reputation as the most dangerous city in Mexico stems from a turf war between two cartels since 2008.
Last week, Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt traveled to Juarez to see what ways the company could help end the violence.
"Defeated, helpless, these people have been so hardened in their experience with cartels that they have lost battles and they have lost hope," Schmidt told a conference, according to the AP. "They were looking for a universal hammer to protect them. For me the answer was obvious. It was technology."
According to the report, the cartels often use more sophisticated technology than the local authorities such as mapping software, military grade rocket launchers, and remote control submarines.
"It's a technological arms race, and at this moment they're winning," said Marc Goodman, founder of Future Crimes, told the AP.