TUCSON, Ariz. – Border Patrol agents assigned to the Willcox Station, assisting an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper during a traffic stop near Tombstone, arrested three people involved in a human smuggling attempt on Sunday afternoon.
The DPS trooper had stopped a 2000 Lincoln Town Car for a traffic violation on east State Route 80. During the encounter, the trooper requested the assistance of a Border Patrol agent working with a canine. The agent led the canine around the vehicle to conduct an open-air inspection.
After the canine alerted to an odor it is trained to detect coming from vehicle, the trooper and Border Patrol agent discovered two adult males, dressed in camouflage, concealed in the trunk.
Both men in the trunk were identified as Mexican nationals illegally present in the U.S. and will be processed for immigration violations. The driver, a 52-year-old man from Phoenix, was arrested on federal human smuggling charges and is awaiting a disposition.
This seizure is one of several foiled human concealment events this month. Tucson Sector agents have seized nearly a dozen vehicles, and arrested more than 12 smugglers and 17 undocumented aliens in September alone.