Police: Many illegal immigrants cross in rented cars

06:36 AM Mountain Standard Time on Monday, April 9, 2007

By The Associated Press

BISBEE -- Police say human smugglers have a new tactic in bringing illegal immigrants over the border.

They're driving over in rented cars.

Bisbee Police spokesman Taron Maddux says smugglers on the U.S. side of the border used to rely on their own vehicles.

But as more carloads were busted, smugglers had to deal with the inconvenience and cost of retrieving their vehicles from impound lots.

Police are now finding that smugglers are renting cars in Tucson and Phoenix and letting the rental car companies deal with the hassle of recovering impounded vehicles.

Police say Dodge and Jeep vehicles are especially popular with human smugglers.

Those vehicles have strong suspensions and don't show a noticeable sag when overloaded.



http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stor ... 2c35d.html