TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 10 people in three separate human smuggling events in southern Arizona Saturday.
The first incident occurred at midnight, when Tucson Sector agents encountered a Ford Expedition at the state Route 85 immigration checkpoint near Gila Bend. The driver, a U.S. citizen juvenile male, was accompanied by three illegal alien passengers from Mexico.
The second incident occurred around 3 p.m. at the Interstate 19 immigration checkpoint near Amado. Agents inspecting a Chevy Cruz discovered the vehicle’s driver, a local woman, had concealed two illegal aliens in the vehicle’s trunk.
Approximately three hours later, agents at the same checkpoint arrested another local woman for attempting to smuggle two illegal aliens from Mexico in a Jeep Patriot.
All seven individuals were found to be illegally present in the United States, processed for immigration violations and expelled from the U.S. under Title 42. Two of the suspected smugglers were booked into U.S. Border Patrol custody and subsequently released. The third remains in custody pending a disposition for federal smuggling charges.
Tucson Sector operates 11 immigration checkpoints in southern Arizona. Every year, agents at these checkpoints thwart human smuggling attempts, preventing thousands of illegal immigrants from entering the interior of the nation.
