Two Yumans help thwart human smuggling attempt
Two women from Yuma on their way to a bachelorette party in Phoenix wound up helping Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents thwart a recent human smuggling attempt.
The incident happened on Nov. 5. According to Border Patrol, the women were heading east on Interstate 8 when they saw two vehicles pulled over ahead of them near mile marker 46.
“We saw a truck and an SUV,” one of the women stated. “There were about 20 people waiting on the side of the road, and they just loaded in.”
Afterwards the vehicles then drove on to the highway, heading in the same direction as the women were traveling.
The quick-thinking women immediately called the Yuma Sector Border Patrol to report what they had seen.
Because the smugglers were driving ahead of them, Border Patrol said, the women were able to follow at a safe distance and provide occasional updates over the phone as to the location of the two smuggling vehicles.
The two women were not identified by Border Patrol, but the agency provided some statements from the pair.
“I was nervous. I could see every now and then an elbow or some other body part sticking up from the bed of the truck,” one of the women said. “I felt safe because I was in a car and could drive away, but I don’t know what I would do if I had to deal with that many people on my own. I don’t know how (Border Patrol) agents do that day-in and day-out.”
When asked by agents why they helped despite being nervous, one of the women responded by saying she grew up in Yuma and is familiar with the challenges associated with illegal immigration.
“I just thought with everything going on right now, you just don’t know who or what is coming in,” she added. “I just thought I could do my
part.”
Thanks to the periodic update provided by the women, Border Patrol agents from the Yuma Sector and Tucson Sector were able to locate the vehicles and apprehend 17 Mexican migrants who had illegally entered the country.
The migrants and the vehicles were taken to the Ajo Border Patrol Station for processing. The young women continued their trip to Phoenix to celebrate their friend’s upcoming nuptials.
One of the women said, “We were so excited to tell our friends at the party. We told the story all day Friday. We said, ‘Guys, we helped America.’”