U.S. Customs and Border Protection

LAREDO (News Release) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations officers this weekend apprehended a 75-year-old woman in connection with a failed human smuggling attempt.

“Our frontline officers applied their interviewing skills and experience to uncover this human smuggling attempt,” said Acting Director, Field Operations Eugene Crawford, Laredo Field Office. “We want to remind the traveling public that willfully violating U.S. immigration law draws serious consequences, including federal criminal charges and incarceration.” 

On Aug. 19, 2023, at Eagle Pass Port of Entry, CBP officers assigned to Camino Real International Bridge referred to secondary inspection a 75-year-old female U.S. citizen traveling in a 2019 Nissan Sentra with two vehicle passengers who presented U.S. birth certificates. During the interview and examination, CBP officers discovered that the birth certificates, while legitimate, did not belong to the passengers. Further examination revealed that the passengers, a 52-year-old male Mexican citizen and a 22-year-old female Guatemalan citizen, did not possess valid entry documents.

CBP officers arrested the female U.S. citizen driver and two passengers for alleged violations of U.S. immigration law and seized the vehicle.