Willcox Station Border Patrol agents arrested a 33-year-old Douglas woman Sunday after finding a Mexican national in the trunk of her Chrysler 300 sedan during an inspection at the immigration checkpoint on Highway 80 near Tombstone.
After agents noticed inconsistencies with the woman’s responses to immigration questions, she was referred for secondary inspection where agents discovered an adult male hiding under pillows and luggage in the vehicle’s trunk.
The driver was arrested on human smuggling charges and is awaiting further disposition. The Mexican national will remain in federal custody pending charges for immigration violations.
Federal law allows agents to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.