Arizona woman awaits fate in Mexico jail after being charged with drug smuggling
May 28, 2013, 10:32 AM | Updated: 10:50 am
An Arizona woman is being held in jail in Mexico on charges that she was trying to smuggle nearly 12 pounds of marijuana into the United States.
Yanira Maldonado will have a court hearing on Tuesday and a judge will have until Friday to make a decision on what happens next.
Maldonado was arrested Wednesday as she and her husband were on their way back to the U.S. from a family funeral. They were on a bus when it was stopped near Hermosillo, Mexico at a military checkpoint.
Her husband was originally told the marijuana was found under his seat. They then let him go and charged his wife.
Her family believes she was targeted and that Mexican authorities want money from them.
“It’s about getting money here,” Yanira Maldonado’s husband, Gary Maldonado, told CNN’s “Starting Point” Tuesday.
Her daughter Anna Soto, who is one of seven children, visited on Saturday and is scared she will never see her mother again.
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake has been in contact with the deputy Mexican ambassador and is following the case.
“Senator Flake is personally monitoring the situation, and he has had multiple conversations with the deputy Mexican ambassador this weekend,” Flake’s office said.
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