TUCSON – While most Americans dared not an Easter egg hunt, human smugglers were undaunted until they ran into U.S. Border Patrol agents. In fact, agents foiled two separate human smuggling attempts over Easter weekend.
According to u.S. Customs and Border Protection, on Saturday afternoon, agents patrolling rural roads east of Ajo conducted an immigration inspection vehicle stop. During the inspection, agents determined the driver, a 25-year-old Phoenix woman, was smuggling three illegal border crossers in the vehicle.
Then on Easter Sunday, agents at the primary inspection lane of the immigration checkpoint on state Route 85 near Gila Bend encountered a vehicle driven by a 39-year-old Phoenix woman. Following a Border Patrol canine alert, agents conducted a secondary inspection, where they discovered two illegal border crossers concealed in the trunk.
In keeping with protocols instituted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all five illegal border crossers were expeditiously expelled from the country. Both U.S. citizen drivers were arrested and face possible human smuggling charges.
“Despite traditional risks of human beings being stuffed into a trunk, there’s now increased risk due to exposure to coronavirus,” said Tucson Sector Border Patrol Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Michele Morales in a press release. “These human smuggling tactics increase exposure risks for our agents, those they smuggle, and endanger the safety of the American people.”