CBP officers foil migrant smuggling attempt at Arizona port of entry

PHOENIX — A man was arrested near the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona for trying to smuggle an undocumented migrant earlier this week, authorities said.

The smuggling attempt took place on Monday night near Douglas, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

That’s when CBP officers stopped a 56-year-old American man driving a 1997 Dodge Stratus trying to enter the U.S. through the Douglas Port of Entry.

While his car was being inspected, the driver seemed to be unfamiliar with the vehicle, authorities said.

How did CBP officers in Arizona discover alleged human smuggling attempt?

A dog trained in narcotics and human detections alerted officers to the trunk of the vehicle, triggering a secondary inspection.

While CBP officers investigated the car more thoroughly, they found that the trunk seemed to be abnormally elevated. Officers lifted the carpet and found a 29-year-old woman hidden inside the spare tire well.

The woman, a Mexican citizen, was found to be illegally entering the U.S. and was detained and processed.

“In this case, our CBP officers noticed unusual behavior at the time of inspection, [and] the officer’s discretion to further inspect led to the foiled smuggling attempt,” Martin Gomez, the area port director for Douglas, said in a Wednesday news release. “We remain committed to upholding and enforcing our U.S. immigration laws along with hundreds of other laws and regulations.”

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