An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

  1. Home
  2. Newsroom
  3. Local Media Release
  4. Smugglers Test Immigration Checkpoints and Get Caught by Border Patrol

Smugglers Test Immigration Checkpoints and Get Caught by Border Patrol

Release Date
Tue, 06/09/2020

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.

Agents arrested 10 ilegal aliens over the weekend at immigration checkpoints
Agents arrested 10 illegal aliens over the
weekend at immigration checkpoints

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.

For more details regarding this media release or to schedule a remote interview via LiveU, please contact the Tucson Sector Border Patrol Public Affairs Office at tca-pao@cbp.dhs.gov or by phone at 520-748-3210.

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021