PHOENIX (AP) — A mother of seven from Arizona is jailed in Mexico on allegations that she tried to smuggle nearly 12 pounds of marijuana into the U.S. on a passenger bus — claims her family members say are false.
A court hearing was held Tuesday in Nogales, Sonora, for 42-year-old Yanira Maldonado of the Phoenix suburb of Goodyear.
She and her husband said they were returning from the funeral of her aunt last Wednesday when the bus they were on was stopped at a military checkpoint about 90 miles from the U.S-Mexico border.
Maldonado was arrested after soldiers inspected the bus and reported finding the marijuana underneath her seat, according to a spokeswoman for the army in the northern state of Sonora.
Gary Maldonado claims his wife was framed and says authorities originally demanded $5,000 for her release.