In two separate incidents Sunday night and Monday morning, five Mexican nationals crossed illegally into the United States over the southern border with Mexico–with two smuggled in the trunk of a U.S. citizen woman.
In the early hours of Monday morning, San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center (JHOC) spotted three swimmers in the Pacific Ocean headed north off the coast of San Diego, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Border Patrol agents working with Office of Air and Marine (OAM) agents on a Midnight Express Coastal Interceptor boat caught up with two of the male swimmers. The third was apprehended upon reaching the shore. All three were determined to be Mexican nationals illegally entering the U.S.
All three had prior history with immigration issues. Two also had criminal histories, according to CBP. The three Mexican nationals were transported to another border region, then returned to Mexico in an attempt to dissuade their use of the same human smugglers, a Border Patrol representative told Breitbart News.
In a separate incident, a U.S. citizen was caught at the El Centro sector Highway 86 checkpoint smuggling two Mexican nationals inside her trunk, according to CBP. A Border Patrol canine alerted officers to the presence of the illegal aliens in the trunk.
The 20-year-old U.S. citizen who was the suspected smuggler was arrested, and according to CBP will be “presented for prosecution for alien smuggling.” The 2003 Dodge Neon the woman was driving was seized.
The two male Mexican nationals, ages 20 and 37, found in the woman’s trunk were taken to a Border Patrol station for processing.
Border Patrol public information officials were not immediately available for comment. It is unknown whether the two men from the trunk were eventually released into the U.S. with a notice to appear in immigration court or returned to Mexico.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana