(Mother of three arrested)…It happened this week at the Downtown Calexico Port of Entry.

The 26 year old woman was traveling with her 3 children in a minivan when she entered the port. The Customs and Border Protection officer detected inconsistencies with the woman’s story, and performed a cursory inspection of the vehicle. The officer found two adults lying inside a storage compartment in the floor of the minivan. The woman was taken into custody, and the children were escorted away from the scene. Officers assisted the two adults out of the compartment and took them into custody for a medical evaluation and processing. It was confirmed the 23 year old man and 27 year old woman were Mexican Citizens and neither had legal documents to enter the United States. The driver, a US citizen and resident of Mexicali was arrested on federal charges of human smuggling and later booked in Imperial County Jail. The children were released to the custody of a family member. The CBP seized the vehicle