Thread: CA-Four arrested on human smuggling charges

Four arrested on human smuggling charges


UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

5:44 p.m. July 24, 2008

SAN YSIDRO – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry found five Mexican citizens concealed in three vehicles during a three-hour span early Wednesday, authorities said.


U.S. Customs and Border Protection photo
A person is concealed in one of three vehicles found to contain undocumented immigrants.
Four people were arrested and will face federal smuggling charges, said Vince Bond, a spokesman for the agency.

The five undocumented immigrants will be returned to Mexico.

About 12:20 a.m., CBP officers who inspected a 1993 Chevrolet Lumina found a compartment in the car's undercarriage. A 23-year-old man and his 18-year old sister were hidden inside.

The driver, a 44-year old woman, and her passenger, a 47-year-old man, were arrested, Bond said. Both are U.S. citizens who live in Oceanside.

Thirty minutes later, officers inspected a 1990 Pontiac Transport because the driver appeared very nervous, Bond said. They found a hidden undercarriage compartment with two women inside, ages 27 and 33.


The driver, a U.S. citizen who lives in Chula Vista, was arrested.
About 3:15 a.m., CBP officers discovered a 49-year-old woman hidden inside the dashboard of a 1993 Mercury Villager. The 43-year-old male driver, a Mexican national who lives in San Ysidro, was arrested.

All three vehicles were seized.


Breaking News Team: (619) 293-1010; breaking@uniontrib.com




http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... uggle.html

OMG. IN THE DASHBOARD OF THE CAR? THAT MUST HAVE BEEN DANG UNCOMFORTABLE.

Border Patrol Seizes Vehicles Used To Smuggle Migrants

POSTED: 9:21 pm PDT July 24, 2008

Three drivers and a passenger were arrested and charged with alien smuggling early Wednesday morning after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Ysidro port of entry discovered undocumented Mexican citizens concealed within compartments on their vehicles, officials announced Thursday.

The three cross-border drivers, two U.S. citizens and a Mexican national, and a U.S. citizen passenger in one car face prosecution in federal court for the alleged smuggling attempts.

The five undocumented immigrants were to be returned to Mexico.

According to U.S. Customs officials, the first attempt occurred about 12:20 a.m. when officers inspecting a white 1993 Chevrolet Lumina bearing California plates discovered a compartment in the undercarriage of the car.

When it was opened, officers found a 23-year old Mexican male and his 18-year old sister hidden inside the compartment, officials said.

The driver, a 44-year old woman and U.S. citizen, and her passenger, a 47-year old man and U.S. citizen, both of Oceanside, were arrested by CBP officers.

The vehicle was seized by CBP.

A half hour later, officers discovered another hidden undercarriage compartment on a 1990 Pontiac Transport that concealed two Mexican women, ages 27 and 33.

Officers inspected the vehicle because the driver appeared very nervous.

The woman driver, a U.S. citizen who resides in Chula Vista, was arrested and the vehicle was seized.

The third smuggling attempt was discovered at about 3:15 a.m. when CBP officers discovered a 49-year old Mexican woman hidden inside the dashboard of a 1993 Mercury Villager.

The 43-year old Mexican male driver, who resides in San Ysidro, was arrested by CBP officers and the vehicle was seized.

http://www.10news.com/news/16983687/det ... d&psp=news