Woman Used Children in Car Seats to Smuggle Marijuana from Mexico, Say Authorities

U.S. Customs officers arrested a Mexican woman who allegedly smuggled 48 pounds of marijuana under and around the car seats of five children.

The 34-year-old Mexican national attempted to cross into the U.S. at the Lukeville Port of Entry in Arizona. The port is located on Highway 85 at the Arizona-Mexico Border.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer saw a square-shaped object under a blanket at the feet of one of the children, according to information from CBP officials. Officers searched and found a marijuana bundle. The officers found two more batches under and around the car seats of the five children who were in the Ford minivan.

CBP officials say the woman smuggled about $24,000 in marijuana into the country.

Officers seized the drugs and arrested the woman. They turned over the children to a family member. CBP officers turned the woman over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) for possible prosecution for drug smuggling.

Drug smugglers will use any means necessary to traffic their illegal cargo.

In April 2017, Breitbart Texas reported that CBP officers arrested a woman who was pushing a stroller carrying two children. The Mexican national attempted to cross the pedestrian lanes at the Nogales Port of Entry when a K-9 alerted to the possible presence of drugs in the stroller.

After safely removing the children, officers discovered the highly dangerous drug fentanyl. According to the U.S. Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA), fentanyl is 50-100 times more potent than morphine, and 50 times more potent than heroin.

“Fentanyl can kill you,” DEA Deputy Administrator Jack Riley warned law enforcement officers in 2015. “Fentanyl is being sold as heroin in virtually every corner of our country. It’s produced clandestinely in Mexico, and [also] comes directly from China. It is 40 to 50 times stronger than street-level heroin. A very small amount ingested, or absorbed through your skin, can kill you,” he said.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, Gab, and Facebook.