U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a woman attempting to smuggle two illegal immigrants inside her vehicle’s trunk at the I-19 Immigration Checkpoint near Amado, Arizona, late Wednesday afternoon on November 18, 2020.
A Tucson Sector agent directed the vehicle to the checkpoint’s secondary inspection area following a canine alert in the primary inspection lane. Agents subsequently discovered two illegal immigrants locked in the vehicle’s trunk without means of escape. Neither one was wearing a mask.
Agents immediately provided the men, both citizens of Mexico, with masks. Fortunately, each was visibly in good health.
The U.S. citizen driver faces federal charges for human smuggling; the two illegal immigrants face immigration violation charges.
People’s lives are endangered when they are confined in spaces not meant for humans, including trunks, tractor-trailers, and toolboxes. Smugglers treat people as cargo. They have no regard for their safety and care only about being paid.
