A 16-year-old illegal alien from Mexico jumped out of a moving SUV during a failed smuggling attempt, leaving it to roll onto I-19 with 2 smuggled aliens inside.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested three Mexican nationals after they attempted to flee from agents near Interstate-19 in Nogales, Arizona, on Tuesday night.
Nogales Station agents observed a black Trailblazer suspected of human smuggling near the border around 7 p.m. As agents attempted a vehicle stop to perform an immigration inspection, the Trailblazer failed to yield. It then pulled into a local restaurant’s parking lot, where the driver fled on foot, leaving the vehicle in drive and moving with two people still inside it.
A quick-thinking agent swiftly drove his patrol vehicle in front of the Trailblazer, preventing it from rolling toward I-19 and into incoming traffic. It collided against the agent’s passenger door before coming to a complete stop.
A second agent pursued the fleeing driver, the 16-year-old, and made the arrest.
The driver and both passengers were found to be Mexican citizens illegally present in the United States.
The illegal aliens and Trailblazer were transported to the Nogales Station for processing. Both passengers will be used as material witnesses in a criminal case against the driver for human smuggling.
“This incident could have turned out very differently,” said Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent Sean L. McGoffin. “Thanks to these agents’ immediate actions, no one was hurt. Smuggling organizations don’t care who they put at risk, including aliens, agents, and the public. Their tactic of recruiting minors to do their dirty work is especially dangerous, and it needs to stop.”
