Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to immigration checkpoints recently discovered five Mexican nationals illegally present in the United States over two separate incidents on Nov. 22.
The first incident began when agents stopped a 2009 Hyundai sedan for routine questioning at an immigration checkpoint near Casa Grande, Arizona. After a canine unit alerted the officers to suspicious activity inside the vehicle’s trunk, the vehicle and its three occupants were referred for a secondary round of inspection and questioning. Since the trunk was locked, the officers lowered the back seats of the vehicle and discovered two individuals inside, both of which later admitted to being present in the country illegally. One of the vehicle’s occupants also admitted to being in the country illegally.
Later that same day, agents stationed at the immigration checkpoint near Interstate 19 selected a 2002 GMC SUV with four occupants for further inspection. After a round of questioning, two of the passengers admitted to being in the country illegally after it was determined that they did not match their photo identification.
Agents arrested all U.S. citizens involved for human smuggling and turned over the illegal migrants for removal processing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of the nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry.