TUCSON, Ariz. – Nogales Station Border Patrol agents assigned to the Interstate 19 immigration checkpoint near Amado, arrested three United States citizens and four illegal aliens, connected to two separate human smuggling attempts, yesterday.
When agents referred the female driver of a Chevrolet Malibu to the secondary inspection area, the driver attempted to flee from awaiting agents.
Agents encountered the vehicle several miles from the checkpoint in a field, after the driver lost control and left the roadway.
The driver, a 31-year-old Tucson woman, fled on foot from the vehicle and was arrested a short time later when she was found by agents. The woman was taken to a local hospital for minor injuries sustained during the stop, and was treated and released into Border Patrol custody.
While securing the vehicle, an assisting canine unit alerted to an odor trained to detect, coming from the vehicle. Agents discovered two men, a Guatemalan national, 22, and a Mexican national, 22, inside the trunk. Neither of the men were injured during the stop.
Another incident occurred earlier in the day, when agents working the primary inspection lane referred the occupants of a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu to secondary inspection. Agents questioned the four persons inside the vehicle, and discovered two Phoenix women, ages 37 and 39, were smuggling two men from Mexico, ages 24 and 22.
In both cases, vehicles and the arrested subjects were taken to the Nogales Station for further processing.