EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper foiled an alleged human smuggling attempt when he stopped an SUV with an expired registration last week on Interstate 10.
The routine traffic stop in Pinal County became anything but that once the trooper asked for identification and the driver pulled out a Mexican voter registration card. After that, the front-seat passenger “controlled most of the conversation” by taking it upon herself to respond to questions the trooper directed at the driver, court records show.
The state trooper noticed three male passengers in the middle seat of the Chevrolet Tahoe and requested assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol
Driver Paola Estefania Martinez Ortiz, passengers Jose Mata Moreno, Clyder Navarez Diaz and a third, unidentified male turned out to be Mexican citizens present in the country illegally, the Border Patrol confirmed through records checks.
At an interview in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Casa Grande (Arizona) Station, Mata told investigators he crossed the border illegally at Nogales, Ariz., to join his brother who has been working in Denver for the past four years. He said he paid $2,000 to Mexican smugglers to guide him through the Arizona desert through cell phone maps and that he met up two other migrants at a designated pickup spot.
Mata stated a Chevrolet Tahoe approached the group and two women got out to tell them to board the vehicle. Court records show the women stopped at a convenience store, switched places and kept driving until a police car stopped them and one of the women exclaimed in Spanish, “¡Ya valió madre!” (We are s—–!).
Investigators showed Mata mugs of the suspects, and he tentatively identified Samantha Paniagua, a U.S. citizen, as the “co-pilot” of the Tahoe.
A criminal complaint filed November 7 in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona alleges Paniagua was asked by investigators if she knew why she was arrested, and the woman responded, “You guys got me with illegal people.” The woman declined to answer any more questions.
Martinez allegedly gave a more elaborate response. She told investigators she is from Zacatecas, Mexico, but has been living and working in the United States for about a year. She said she is in the process of securing a U.S. visa on the grounds of a sexual harassment complaint she filed.
U.S. law allows for foreign nationals who have been victims of substantial physical or mental abuse – including sexual assault or stalking – to apply for a U-visa and legally reside in the United States for a set period.
Martinez said she and Paniagua drove from Phoenix to Tucson to look for an apartment and on the way back picked up hitchhikers coming off a field. She said she was only going to ask the “workers” for $100 for gas to take them to Phoenix, the complaint alleges.
Federal officials have charged the two women with transportation of illegal aliens. A detention hearing is pending in federal court in Tucson.
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