Pubdate: Sat, 01 Jun 2013
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2013 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Authors: Bob Christie, Cristina Silva and Elliot Spagat
Page: A2

AMERICAN FREED FROM MEXICO

Judge Dismisses Claim That She Tried to Smuggle Drugs

PHOENIX - The weeklong detention of an American woman after Mexican
authorities said they found 12 pounds of marijuana under her bus seat
illustrates just one of the perils Americans face while traveling in
Mexico.

Yanira Maldonado, 42, walked out of a prison on the outskirts of
Nogales, Mexico, and into her husband's arms late Thursday after a
judge dismissed drug-smuggling charges against her.

The judge determined Maldonado was no longer a suspect after viewing
video that showed the couple climbing on the bus with just a purse,
blankets and bottles of water.

"Many thanks to everyone, especially my God who let me go free, my
family, my children, who with their help, I was able to survive this
test," she said outside the jail before crossing through the Nogales
port of entry into Arizona.

With kidnappings, drug cartel shootouts and other violent crime
pervasive in parts of Mexico, the tourism industry has taken a hit,
though popular destinations such as Cancun as so well-protected that
problems are rare.

Kidnappings and cartel violence are prominent among the U. S. State
Department's lengthy set of warnings about travel in Mexico. But there
are also warnings about getting caught up in drug smuggling, either by
being used as a "blind mule" who doesn't know drugs have been put in
their car or luggage, or by being strongarmed by smugglers who
threaten harm if a person doesn't carry drugs.

Maldonado also may have been caught up in a shakedown by Mexican
police who were seeking a bribe. Her husband said police sought $
5,000 to let her go.

She may have just been randomly assigned the seat under which the
smugglers hid the pot. Or she could have been put there on purpose by
smugglers who hoped an American was less likely to be targeted for a
search and to provide cover for the real smuggler.

Alonzo Pena, who retired as deputy director of U. S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement in 2010 and was once stationed in Mexico, said
someone else on the bus probably put the drugs under Maldonado's seat
without her knowledge and watched her throughout the trip.

The U. S. State Department also warns that criminals are increasingly
affixing drugs to the bottom of parked cars in Mexico, then removing
them after the vehicle enters the U. S.

Those cases are rare, Pena said, because smugglers like to closely
watch the drugs crossing the border.

Eric Vos, a lawyer with the U. S. Office of Defender Services who
trains federal public defenders, agreed that slipping drugs into
unsuspecting travelers' cars or luggage isn't all that common.

"There's just like a million reasons why the blind mule thing is a
difficult angle," Vos said Friday.

It's more common, Pena said, for drug carriers to admit they knowingly
smuggled because they or their families were threatened if they disobeyed.

A highly acclaimed architect who designed some of Tijuana's most
prominent buildings was given an unusually light sentence of six
months in prison in San Diego last year for trying to enter the U. S.
with nearly 13 pounds of cocaine hidden in his minivan's battery.
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