A longtime Democratic activist said that contrary to Donald Trump’s allegations at Wednesday's debate, he had no role in any secret plan to instigate violence at Trump rallies.

Robert Creamer told NBC5 Investigates, “Aside from the fact that we didn’t want to--why would we provoke the crowd? Donald Trump did it from his own podium.”

At issue: rowdy confrontations between pro-and-anti-Trump forces outside his campaign events, including a notable rally at the UIC Pavilion last March which became so raucous that the candidate canceled his appearance. Conservative activist James O’Keefe claims in a new video to have secretly recorded Creamer and his associates discussing the plants they supposedly placed in the crowds to goad Trump supporters into violence.

“We have mentally ill people that we pay … make no mistake,” activist Scott Foval is heard boasting on the tape. “If you’re there and you’re protesting and you do these actions, you will be attacked at Trump rallies. That’s what we want.”

“I was wondering what happened with my rally in Chicago and other rallies where we had such violence,” Trump declared during Wednesday evening’s debate as he pointed across the stage at his Democratic opponent. “She’s the one, and Obama, that caused the violence.”

On the tape, Foval appears to brag of his association with Creamer, a longtime Democratic strategist who is married to Illinois congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.

“Bob Creamer is diabolical and I love him for it,” he says. “There’s a script of engagement. Sometimes the crazies bite, and sometimes the crazies don’t bite.”

But Creamer, chief of the firm Democracy Partners, adamantly disavows Foval’s claims.

“He was not a contractor at the time he made the statements in April,” he told NBC5. “The things he described were contrary to the policies of Democracy Partners---never happened.”

He would not speculate about why Foval made the claims he did, in conversations which he was not aware were being recorded.  Creamer accused the Trump forces of committing dirty tricks of their own.

“James O’Keefe, the discredited individual behind this well-orchestrated spying scheme directed at our firm, uses methods that would make Richard Nixon and the Watergate burglars proud,” he said in a statement. “O’Keefe executed a plot that involved the use of trained operatives using false identification, disguises, and elaborate false covers to infiltrate our firm and other consulting firms, in order to steal campaign plans, and goad unsuspecting individuals into making careless statements on hidden cameras."

The Associated Press reported that O'Keefe and Project Veritas often target Democratic groups with hidden cameras and false identities. O'Keefe filmed hidden camera footage at an office of community organizing group ACORN, portraying workers there as engaging in criminal activity, which led to the end of the group.

His 2010 scheme to film illegally at the office of Mary Landrieu, then a Democratic U.S. senator for Louisiana, resulted in O'Keefe being convicted, according to the AP.

In excerpts on the edited video that Project Veritas recently released, Foval seems to boast of the ease with which campaign events can be disrupted.

“It’s a matter of showing up, to want to get into the rally with a Planned Parenthood t-shirt,” he said. “Or Trump is a Nazi, you know? You can message to draw them out, and draw them to punch you.”

Two police officers were injured and five protesters arrested at the Chicago event, with the taxpayers shelling out over $100,000 in police overtime. As a result of the fallout from the video, Creamer severed his relationship with Foval, and announced he was “stepping back” from his responsibilities working with the Clinton campaign.

“Because I did not want to be a distraction from this campaign in the last two and a half weeks,” he told NBC5. “I did not want to be a lightning rod.”

Creamer made news of his own 10 years ago, when he was convicted of fundraising irregularities surrounding his former consumer group, Illinois Public Action. He was sentenced to five months in prison for bank fraud and an associated tax charge. He is a longtime Democratic consultant, working on the campaigns of, among others, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and now congressman Mike Quigley.

The news website DNA Info reported Thursday that Twitter was bursting with anti-Trump posters who facetiously wondered where their paychecks might be.

“Trump, Chicago didn’t need to be paid to express our dislike for you,” Christopher Mikell said in a tweet posted Wednesday night. “We just ain’t got none.”

Activist Jedidiah Brown put it even more succinctly.

“I need Donald Trump to please tell me where I can get my $1,500 for standing against him at the Chicago rally.”

There is growing evidence that Donald Trump's mud-slinging is tarnishing his gold-plated name, and industry observers say the Republican presidential nominee risks doing permanent damage to his brand.

"There are certainly groups and event planners shying away [from Trump-related venues] just because they don't want to offend anybody," said David Loeb, managing director and senior real estate research analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co.

Already, the Susan G. Komen Foundation is considering relocating an annual fundraiser held at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, NBC News reported. In addition, the PGA announced this summer that it was moving the WGC-Cadillac Championship from the Trump National Doral in Florida to Mexico City next year.

"The majority of the meeting planning community is female, and when you have a candidate who's been very polarizing… it just kind of makes sense that might impact their decision-making," said Kevin Iwamoto, a senior consultant at GoldSpring Consulting. "Planners and buyers are going to vote with their dollars." 

It’s not like Sue Bieker had ample free time.

The San Diego employment law attorney maintained a law practice and was the mother of two children. But she knew she had a big heart for kids and that her son and daughter were now getting older.

A nexus happened when she heard about a remarkable San Diego organization fueled by volunteers which profoundly improves the outcome of the county’s 5,000 children in the foster care system called Voices for Children.

Help for these kids is desperately needed. Sue quickly learned that many foster kids, who on average enter the system at the age of 5, bounce constantly from foster home to group home sometimes more than 20 times in their dependency (and don’t live with one foster family as commonly perceived).

She saw the statistics resulting from the chaos of foster kids also being forced to change schools which results often with only half graduating from high school.

That often, siblings don’t get to live together in foster care. Or that a third may be homeless within three years after turning 18.

The terrible statistics continue for the children who typically enter foster care at age 5.

These children who suffered so much at the hands of abusive and neglectful families are further victimized by a well-intentioned foster care system that is overburdened and broken.

Sue knew she had to get involved.

“I saw how important it is for these kids to have an advocate: somebody who's not being paid to provide services to them; someone who is there simply because they care," she said.

The first foster care children Sue helped were sisters, ages nine and 11, who had been pulled out of a home in San Diego.

“They were severely neglected. They faced all kinds of difficult things in their home-life whether it was drugs or prostitution. One of them had dealt with sexual molestation," she recalled.

As a CASA, Sue became the first consistent, caring adult in the girls’ lives. She learned everything about their needs, whether it was educational, medical, emotional or related to finding a safe, permanent home for them, the ultimate goal.

Sue then went to court (the legal guardian of all foster children) and advised a judge as to what might be best for the girls.

The observations and advice of CASAs are welcomed by judges, lawyers and social workers involved who all know the CASAs are champions of these kids. But of course, the kids are the biggest beneficiaries.

“Getting a CASA from Voices for Children is very prestigious for foster children. It means someone is going to be there and advocate on their behalf in court," said Voice for Children CEO Sharon Lawrence. "It means they are going to get out of where they are living whether it’s a group home or a foster family. Somebody is going to get their brothers and sisters together with them on a regular basis and it means somebody is going to be on their side helping them."

The results of having a CASA can be amazing. There are former foster children who are now teachers, business owners, lawyers, doctors, White House advisors, counselors and there many great parents. Because of the intervention of one volunteer trained and supported by Voices for Children, these young people are succeeding and not becoming casualties of a broken system.

As for the young sisters whom Sue started helping five years ago, they are still minors and are thriving too. Sue facilitated their placement together now in a safe and permanent home. Both are happy and both have a bright future.

For Sue, the experience was so rewarding that she is a CASA volunteer for a third time.

“It’s more gratifying I’m sure for the CASA than it is for the children because you get to see these children advance and you get to see them benefit! It really makes you feel like you’re are making a difference," she said.

Lawrence says it doesn’t take much time.

“It only takes about 10-15 hours a month, we train CASAs well and every volunteer has a paid, professional staff member to help guide them through the foster care system to problem solve and to celebrate the successes together. I say to anyone who is interested ‘It’s not that hard and it can be life changing for you and for the children you serve,’" Lawrence said.

No legal background is required. Only a good heart.

An Ocean Beach school for special needs children was burglarized for the second time in less than a year, leaving school administrators appalled over what was taken this time.

The Pioneer Day School for intellectually disabled students has security cameras, chain link and wood fences, even an alarm system. But that did not stop thieves from breaking in and stealing a six-seater Surrey Bike on Wednesday.

The bike is about the size of a small car.

It would cost around $6,000 to replace the bicycle but the value to the students at the school is far greater. The bicycle wasn't just a mode of transportation from one place to another, but transformation for the disabled students who looked forward to riding it, according to Program Director Cynthia Fajardo.

She said the bicycle was used for “physical fitness, group activity participation, motivation and access to the community" by the school.

Fajardo said she is dumbfounded over the theft.

“Unless you are pretty heartless, you kind of have to think it's a very difficult thing to fathom. Who would take a bike from a program for students with special needs who use it every day?,"  Fajarda questioned.

In February, thieves stole thousands of dollars in iPads, which were used by the students as a way to communicate.

“Some of our students use the iPads as a communication device, so temporarily that was not available to them,” Fajarda said.

Now, everything is under lock and key and inside the areas with security alarms. Classrooms are doubling up as a storage place for bikes overnight.

“It is very heartbreaking, I think for all of us here who are doing our absolute best to help our students succeed,” Fajarda said.

Fajarda said insurance and donations from the community were used to replace the stolen iPads.

But this time, the school is hoping whoever took the Surrey Bike will do the right thing and return it. And if someone sees it, they will contact authorities.

A 70-year-old man was shot in the arm by a suspect fleeing a home invasion robbery in Linda Vista, police said.

The shooting was reported at about 9:30 a.m. Friday in the 2200 block of Crandall Drive.

The victim was rushed to the hospital with injuries that don't appear to be life threatening.

A suspect was detained, though his name has not been released.

Police said situation started when another man was robbed inside his home and tried to escape when the suspect followed him outside.

The suspect fired a second round at the man when the 70-year-old, who happened to be walking in the area, was shot in the arm, police said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued new screen media guidelines for parents with infants and young children, amending its previous recommendation that outright banned screens for children under the age of two.

In its policy statement released Friday, the AAP says it’s OK for children under the age of 18 months to Skype or Face Time with grandma and grandpa, and for older children and teens to do some of their socializing, learning and playing online – as long as they put down their devices long enough to sleep, exercise, eat, and engage in rich offline lives. 

The nation's leading group of pediatricians recommends children under 18 months, with the exception of video chatting, should avoid screens. Children between 18 months and 24 months should only be introduced to digital media that is high-quality and parents should watch it with their children in order to help them process what they’re seeing.

For children ages 2-5, digital media use should be limited to one hour a day. The guidelines again recommend high-quality, education media suited for children, such as Sesame Street and PBS.

Overall, parents should avoid using media to calm a child or replace physical activity. Parents are also recommended by the AAP to have media-free time with their children and media-free zones in the house. Parents should also have conversations with children about online safety and respecting people both on and offline.

AT&T is in advanced talks to acquire Time Warner in a deal that could be announced shortly, CNBC reported Friday, citing sources. 

An announcement could come as soon as Monday before the opening bell, as the boards are expected to meet over the weekend, CNBC has learned.

Time Warner could be seeking more than $100 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. That's about in line with $110 a share, reported by Bloomberg.

Sources also told CNBC that AT&T could pay well north of $90 a share for Time Warner, and speculated it could be up to $110 a share. Alan Gould, an analyst at Brean Capital, wrote in a research note that such a deal could hit the $110 to $125 a share range.

President Barack Obama will visit San Diego Sunday and Monday in what is likely the last stop here of his presidency.

Obama will fly in to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on Sunday evening and will speak at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee event.

Then, on Monday, the president will speak at a Hillary Victory Fund reception before leaving the area.

Both events are believed to be private from the public.

The president was last in San Diego in October 2015 for a vacation to play golf at Torrey Pines Golf Course.

A man implicated in a high-profile series of attacks on homeless men around San Diego over the summer is not mentally competent to stand trial, a San Diego County judge decided on Friday.

During the hearing on Friday morning, the judge determined that Jon David Guerrero, 39, was not mentally capable to assist in his own defense. Criminal proceedings have been suspended.

The San Diego man faces three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and two counts of arson.

On Friday, as he sat in court to learn his fate, he was shaking and making strange noises.

A doctor testified that Guerrero was not competent and said he should be transferred from jail to a mental hospital to receive treatment.

The defendant will be transferred, prosecutors said, once there's an opening at the state hospital.

Guerrero is accused in five attacks that began July 3, and authorities believe he acted alone.

The dramatic homicide investigation first surfaced when police found the badly burned body of 53-year-old Angelo de Nardo near train tracks in Bay Ho. Investigators say they believe the homeless man died before he was set on fire.

Police released surveillance video of a man seen in a convenience store buying gasoline and a gas can minutes before De Nardo's body was discovered. The man wore a distinctive green Mao-style hat, like the one Guerrero was wearing at his arrest.

On July 4, two homeless men were discovered attacked within an hour of each other in Bay Ho and Ocean Beach in the early hours of morning around 5 a.m. and 6 a.m.

They both suffered severe trauma to the upper body. 61-year-old Manuel Mason remains in critical condition. 41-year-old Shawn Longley died from the vicious assault.

On July 6, 23-year-old Derek Vahidy was found attacked and lit on fire in Pantoja Park near State and G Streets. He later died in the hospital.

Guerrero was arrested on July 15 after a fifth man was attacked at 18th and C streets.

Prosecutors have said Guerrero used railroad spikes to impale the victims as they slept.

It's unclear when criminal proceedings for Guerrero will resume. He can stay at the state hospital for up to three years.

A Federal Law Enforcement Officer attempting to stop a suspect from stealing a bicycle from his backyard was kidnapped in Linda Vista on Friday morning, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) confirmed.

The incident began at approximately 7:10 a.m. Friday at the officer's home near Narragansett Avenue and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.

The officer witnessed the suspect from the second floor of his home take a bike from his backyard and place it in the back of a Chevy pick-up truck. The officer then grabbed his badge and confronted the suspect outside his home.

SDPD says there were two suspects inside the truck, identified as Adan Bustos and Arisdelsi Sanches, both 23-years old. Bustos had been the one to steal the bicycle while Sanches waited in the truck. 

When the officer approached Bustos and Sanches and identified himself, they drove off. That's when the officer jumped into the bed of the truck.

SDPD said the suspects drove onto the freeway and exited in the downtown area of San Diego, driving more than seven miles before stopping. The officer was able to call police using his cell phone.

Bustos then crashed the truck into a large concrete planter box located near 4th Avenue and K Street in downtown. Police say the officer was able to get out of the truck at this time.

Sanches also got out and ran away. She was later arrested near 500 K Street. 

Bustos drove away, stopped at 6th Avenue and K Street where the truck rolled backward and crashed into a parked vehicle. He then took off on foot and got into a taxi near 6th Avenue and L Street, according to police. 

Officers stopped the taxi at 600 Harbor Drive and arrested Bustos. 

Police say the Chevy pick-up Bustos and Sanches had been driving was a stolen vehicle. Both suspects were booked into jail on several felony charges.

It's unknown if the officer was injured. 

No other information was immediately available.

Officers were responding to reports of a car fire in Mira Mesa Friday afternoon, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

Black smoke could be visible on the Interstate 15 near the Mira Mesa Boulevard offramp. The fire was reported at around 4:07 p.m.

According to CHP, the vehicle may be in the Mira Mesa Park and Ride. 

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

Among Republican and Republican-leaning likely voters, 45 percent said they might not accept the election as legitimate if their candidate doesn't win, including 18 percent who said they would definitely not accept the outcome, according to the NBC NewsSurveyMonkey Third Debate Reaction Poll conducted on Thursday, Oct. 20. A majority of Republicans—53 percent—said they would accept the results of the election if their candidate loses, NBC News reported.

Voters polled also said Hillary Clinton won the third and final debate of the 2016 Presidential Election cycle by a 9-point margin over Donald Trump. A 46 percent plurality said Clinton won the debate, while 37 percent said Trump won. Another 17 percent said that neither candidate won the debate. Clinton's final victory over the Republican nominee marks a decisive sweep of all three debates.

The debate was most notable for Trump's refusal to say he would accept the outcome of the election—with some GOP leaders joining a backlash.

The sister of a man shot and killed last month in a confrontation with El Cajon Police officers claimed Thursday the agency was negligent in training and supervising an officer who handled the call with a “cowboy attitude."

Alfred Olango, a 38-year-old Ugandan refugee who came to the U.S. over 20 years ago, was shot by police on September 27.

His sister, Lucy Olango, filed a claim for damages with the City of El Cajon alleging the officer who fired the fatal shots handled her 911 call for help with “a cowboy attitude and demeanor.”

Lucy Olango called police that day because her brother was “not acting like himself,” police said. ECPD officials said Olango was reported to be “acting erratically,” walking in and out of traffic.

Video of the shooting shows Officer Richard Gonsalves approaching Olango in the parking lot of a strip mall and then firing several rounds just moments later.

The claim alleges that Gonsalves “provoked Alfred into taking foreseeable defensive measures which Officer Gonsalves then used as false justification to kill him.”

El Cajon police said Olango refused multiple instructions to remove his hand from in his pocket before he pulled out an object and held it in front of him “like he would be firing a gun.”  The object was later determined to be a vaping smoking device with an all-silver cylinder measuring approximately 1 inch in diameter and 3 inches long.

Lucy Olango’s claim alleges that the officer did not wait for the city’s Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) to arrive and did not use nonlethal ways of controlling the situation.

"Officer Gonsalves acted negligently in both his pre-shooting tactical conduct and decisions, e.g., to escalate to deadly force very quickly and without warning, not to wait for P.E.R.T., not to use non-lethal alternatives, and to instead confront and provoke Alfred, as well as his decision to shoot an unarmed man," the claim states.

ECPD’s PERT was working another police call at the time.

“Officer Gonsalves drew his firearm and aggressively confronted, chased, and cornered Alfred,” the claim alleges adding that the department did not adequately train or supervise the officer.

The family also alleges the officer had demonstrated unfitness prior to the day of the shooting including issues with substance abuse, acts of violence and emotional problems.

As NBC 7 has reported, Gonsalves was accused of sexually harassing another ECPD officer by sending inappropriate texts and photos in 2013. 

The officer is a 21-year veteran of the department. He was on administrative leave which is routine after an officer-involved shooting.

Law enforcement officials are searching for a man with a third eye tattooed on his forehead in an attempted kidnapping reported Wednesday in Imperial Beach.

According to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO), the incident occurred on 13th Street and Fern Avenue between 5 and 5:45 p.m. A pickup truck pulled up next to the 11-year old, who had been riding a scooter, and a man sitting in the passenger seat got out and attempted to grab the child.

The child was able to escape to a relative who lived nearby.  

SDSO released a sketch of the suspect on Thursday. He is described to be have salt and pepper hair and a mustache, about 5-feet 11-inches tall and weighing around 180 pounds. He also has a number of tattoos, including an eyeball on his forehead and a skull on his neck. 

Patti Wringel lives in the area and said the tattoos are so unique, someone would recognize the suspect.

She said she will be paying more attention to her surroundings in an effort to protect her grandchildren.

“I think we’ve become too lax and we think we’re safe again and we stop being as vigilant as we used to be,” she said. “We just need to remember it can happen anywhere to anybody.”

The suspect was riding in Royal Blue, lifted, Ford F250 pickup. SDSO says the truck appeared to be a newer model, probably 2015 or 2016. At this time, the identity of the pickup truck driver is unkown. 

The child was not hurt, SDSO said.

Anyone who has information or recognizes the suspect can call SDSO at (858)974-5200.

Seven elementary school students became sick Friday after ingesting pills they mistook for jelly beans, according to a San Diego Unified School District spokesperson.

The group of third grade students at Washington Elementary School on State Street in Little Italy started feeling sick before 10 a.m.

One child found the pills and handed them out to other kids thinking they were jelly beans, said district spokesperson Jennifer Rodriguez.

Instead, they were green tea supplementary pills the mother had left in the backpack after using it for a recent trip, the district said.

The children were checked by the school nurse and sent back to class. None was taken to a hospital or medical center, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said the incident appears to have been accidental.

It is too early to determine who was responsible for the digital attacks that darkened much of the internet in the United States Friday, cyber experts and intelligence officials told NBC News.

Some said evidence points to Russia, others proposed it was "internet vandalism." One clue could be a similar attack mounted against the Republic of Georgia eight years ago by Russian cybercriminals enlisted by a Russian intelligence agency.

Twitter, Amazon, PayPal, Spotify and Reddit are some of the sites that were knocked out in the three "denial of service," or DDoS, attacks at about 7 a.m., noon and 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

The attacks came largely via "smart" household appliances linked to the web, hit websites with more than 150,000 requests for information per second and were largely aimed at one company's internet infrastructure rather than specific websites.

A sailor with the U.S. Navy based in Coronado, California, was the American service member killed in Iraq Thursday, Defense Department officials confirmed Friday.

Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, 34, died Thursday from injuries suffered by an "improvised explosive device," or roadside bomb, officials said.

Finan was from Anaheim, California, and was serving in Iraq with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 in an advisory capacity, according to the Pentagon. 

"The entire Navy Expeditionary Combat Command family offers our deepest condolences and sympathies to the family and loved ones of the Sailor we lost," said Rear Adm. Brian Brakke, commander of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command/NECC Pacific, in a news release.

Finan was the first U.S. service member to die in combat since the launch of a massive operation to retake the Islamic State-held city of Mosul earlier this week.

More than 100 U.S. special operations forces are embedded with Iraqi units, and hundreds more are playing a supporting role in staging bases.

As of early this month, there were 4,565 U.S. troops in Iraq, according to the Pentagon. That doesn't include another 1,500 troops considered there "on temporary duty," whose number changes daily, according to the U.S. officials.

Three other service members have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led coalition began launching airstrikes against IS in August 2014.

An 11-year old child was hit by a car in the El Cerrito neighborhood of San Diego on Friday evening.

According to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), the incident happened at approximately 4:45 p.m. on the 5900 block of University Avenue. 

The child was bleeding from the mouth but SDPD says the injuries are considered to be minor.

The driver of the vehicle involved is cooperating.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

If you love avocados, you might want to head to your nearest grocery store and grab some before they run out—and this time, the wait might be longer than a few days.

NBC 7 confirmed with the San Diego County Farm Bureau on Friday that there is a massive shortage of avocados in the county and nationwide caused by labor strikes in Mexico.

Growers and pickers in Mexico are having what officials called a “slow down,” or strikes, to affect the price of avocados in the U.S. Workers reported being unhappy with the prices they have been receiving for the fruits. Due to this, shipments coming into the U.S. have decreased, leading to a massive shortage that has been affecting restaurants and stores in the county and the everyday buyer.

Officials told NBC 7 about 40 million pounds of avocados are usually transported from Mexico to the U.S a week. However, two weeks ago, less than half of that amount, about 13 million pounds of the fruit were shipped over across our border. 

The strikes are also causing prices to increase.

Juan Carlos Recamier, the head chef and owner of Ceviche House in North Park told NBC 7 the drought has already had an impact on avocado prices, but now it's worse with each case of the fruit costing his business more than $100.

"We have guacamole on our menu and right now it says it’s not available," Recamier said. "It not only impacts mom and pop shops but the industry across the board."

The director of operations at Puesto said they have been paying more than $100 per box of avocados as well. They used to pay $66.

"Guacamole is part of the life blood of this restaurant," Lucien Conner said. "There is not going to be a day in Puesto without guacamole."

Conner said they have been sending employees out to nearby stores and markets to buy any avocados they can find.

NBC 7 also reached out to Henry Avocado Corporation, a year-round local Hass Avocado grower and distributor, and was informed by a supervisor workers were heading home early because they didn't have fruit to move.

As of Friday, several people in the San Diego restaurant industry and an official with the Farm Bureau reported avocado prices dropping. They said that could be an indicator the strike issue is resolving. 

The San Diego sector of the United States Border Patrol says it has a message for smugglers in Otay Mountain.

“You’re no longer going to be making a profit by putting the lives of migrants and agents in danger.”

Officials say migrants often meet up with smugglers on a Mexican toll road near Tecate. They’re told by the smugglers, the U.S. is just on the other side of an unintimidating hillside, but really what awaits them is more than a day’s worth of San Diego’s most deadly terrain.

Sharp drop-offs, jagged rocks and extreme heat are just a few of the elements migrants face.

“If someone falls behind in this terrain, you will lose sight of your own people within 10 yards,” said U.S. Border Patrol Agent Matthew Dreyer.

He is the commander of the newly launched “Task Force Otay,” an enforcement effort on Otay Mountain to target cross-border criminal smuggling organizations.

“Our goal is to prosecute foot guides and alien smugglers in this terrain,” Dreyer said. “It’s a concentrated effort to put those folks in jail and keep them from smuggling human beings through dangerous mountains."

After patrolling this mountain for more than 20 years, Commander Dreyer says he’s fed-up with foot guides profiting by putting human lives – both agents and migrants, in extreme danger.

It’s hard to believe that beneath the exquisite scenery, agents encounter some of the darkest sides of human nature.

Dreyer says often the smugglers set-up their customers to be robbed, raped and attacked for money. Then, the smugglers continue dragging the same migrants up the dangerous mountain, for payment, or leave them behind to die.

“If an alien crossing breaks an ankle or is too slow to keep up, they’ll leave them behind in this remote area, and that’s the dangerous part,” Dreyer said. “That’s who we’re after is those foot guides and alien smugglers that are smuggling people over this mountain.”

Some days, he said, there’s not much difference between an apprehension or a rescue, depending on how dehydrated and hurt the migrants are.

Border Patrol says the task force will continue until the smuggling on Otay Mountain stops.