CBP officers at the Port of San Luis prevent alleged child-smuggling attempt

SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Area Port of San Luis arrested a woman in connection to an alleged child-smuggling attempt.

According to a press release, the incident happened at around 3:00 a.m. Tuesday when CBP says officers came across a 23-year-old woman, who is a Mexican citizen and legal U.S. resident, driving a 2013 Chevrolet sedan and had a child sleeping in the back seat of the vehicle.

During the examination, CBP says the woman presented a U.S. birth certificate for the child and told officers she was the child's mother.

However, officers noticed the child "was in an abnormally deep sleep" and did not appear to be the age indicated on the birth certificate, CBP says.

It was then officers discovered the woman and the child were not related and while the birth certificate was legit, it did not belong to the child, who was actually a five-year-old boy from Mexico and did not have valid entry documents, according to CBP.

CBP also says the woman gave the child sleep sedatives "prior to the attempted crossing to assist in evading detection."

"Sedating children is a dangerous and common tactic we see utilized by human smugglers attempting to avoid detection through our ports of entry," said Chris Leon, Area Port Director for San Luis. "Our CBP officers are up to date on emerging smuggling trends and committed to safeguarding our borders, especially when it comes to the protection of children."

Following this, CBP says officers seized the vehicle while the woman was taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations.