EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – An Arizona woman is facing federal felony charges after allegedly being caught driving unauthorized migrants from Bisbee to Phoenix last week.
The arrest of Courtney Alana Hansen is linked to surveillance on a home in Bisbee from where eight previous human smuggling events have originated, according to records filed in U.S. federal court.
It was at that home on Park Drive that border agents say they saw a charcoal gray Dodge Charger stop in the adjoining alley and a man exit the vehicle and enter the residence from behind on Jan. 19. Three males and a female came out of the house and got into the car. They were followed by the individual who initially exited the vehicle. He was carrying backpacks that he placed in the Charger’s trunk before going back into the residence, court records show.
U.S. Border Patrol agents tracked the Charger from a distance as it traveled on State Highway 80 east of Bisbee. They flashed their lights and four people took off running into the desert as soon as the vehicle stopped, court records show.
Border agents located and apprehended the suspected unauthorized non-citizens. They allegedly found Hansen sitting still in the charcoal gray Charger with pink seats.
In a post-arrest interview, Hansen allegedly told agents an unnamed party summoned her to Sierra Vista, Arizona, and expected her to “load” unauthorized non-citizens in her vehicle for transport. She told investigators that on Jan. 18, she went to a designated area but grew tired of waiting and left. On Jan. 19, she was instructed to go to Bisbee and park. She said a Mexican national approached her vehicle and told her to drive to a house nearby to pick up.
Hansen said she would be paid $800 for driving the migrants to Phoenix. She said she took the job because she needed money for school. Records show she was placed in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and had her initial court appearance on Monday. A plea hearing has been set for Feb. 5 in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in Tucson, records show.
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