TUCSON, Ariz. – Sonoita Border Patrol agents working at the immigration checkpoint on State Route 83 discovered a male Mexican national concealed in the trunk of a black 2005 Mercury Montego on Monday afternoon.
The smuggling attempt was foiled when agents referred the driver, a 25-year-old Tucson woman, for a secondary inspection of the vehicle. When agents opened the car’s trunk, they discovered an 18-year-old male Mexican national inside.
The driver was arrested for human smuggling, while the Mexican teen is being processed for immigration violations.
Concealing humans in car trunks is a common tactic used by smugglers, even though their cargo could suffocate, suffer heat stroke or hypothermia, or injury from vehicle collisions.