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U.S. Citizens Arrested, Smuggling Mexican Nationals in Car Trunk

Release Date: 
October 21, 2016

YUMA, Ariz. –A Border Patrol canine team at the immigration checkpoint on Interstate 8, east of Yuma, alerted agents to a vehicle Wednesday visibly occupied by a man and woman, both U.S. citizens.

Agents referred the couple for a secondary inspection of their vehicle and found two Mexican nationals hiding in the trunk.  Both were illegally present in the United States.

“It is a long held opinion of all of us who deal with smugglers on a daily basis that they have absolutely no regard for human life,” said Yuma Sector Chief Patrol Agent Anthony J. Porvaznik.  “Smuggling people in the trunk of a vehicle could result in death due to the heat, carbon monoxide poisoning, suffocation, or any number of causes.”

The U.S. citizens are being charged with alien smuggling; while the two aliens are being processed per Yuma Sector guidelines.  Agents also seized the vehicle used in the smuggling attempt.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Last modified: 
February 9, 2017
Tags: 
Border Security
Smuggling
U.S. Border Patrol
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