Mormon mom mistaken for mule in Mexico

waltky · May 30, 2013

Arizona Mom Jailed In Mexico Turns To Scripture...

U.S. Mom Denies Mexican Charge of Smuggling 12 Lbs. of Pot Under Bus Seat
5/30/2013 > An Arizona mother locked up in a Mexico prison on a drug-smuggling charge is depressed and upset about the situation, but hopeful a judge will throw out the case after realizing there is no basis to the charges, her lawyer said.

Jose Francisco Benitez Paz spoke to The Associated Press about 42-year-old Yanira Maldonado, a devout Mormon with seven children who was arrested by the Mexican military after they found nearly 12 lbs. of pot under her bus seat last week. Benitez attended a court hearing Wednesday where he told a judge that she should be released from prison. He noted that it was a fairly sophisticated smuggling effort that included packets of drugs attached to the seat bottoms with metal hooks a task that would have been impossible for a passenger like Maldonado. "It was very well prepared," he said. "It wasn't something quick. It was very well done."

Gary and Yanira Maldonado in a happier moment

Maldonado's arrest has prompted outrage in the U.S. among politicians and her family members. The case has been a fixture on TV networks with its nightmare scenario of a mother being caught up in a drug case and sent to prison in a judicial system that has long struggled with corruption. Yanira Maldonado and her husband, Gary, said they were returning from her aunt's funeral at the time of the arrest. Gary Maldonado says authorities originally demanded $5,000 for her release, but the bribe fell through. The husband was released after initially being suspected of smuggling. "You can't imagine traveling to Mexico and the next thing you know they accuse you of having a block of marijuana under your seat, and you're going to jail," said Maldonado's brother-in-law, Brandon Klippel.

Drug traffickers have increasingly been using passenger buses to move U.S.-bound drugs through Mexico. In a notorious case, federal police in 2011 found half a ton of marijuana hidden under the seats of a bus headed to Piedras Negras, across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas. They arrested the driver and two other people.

Federal agents and soldiers have set up checkpoints throughout Mexico's main highways and have routinely seized cocaine, marijuana, heroin and other illegal drugs from buses. When drug suspects are arrested in Mexico, they face a murky situation. Mexico's justice system is carried out largely in secret, with proceedings done almost entirely in writing. Four years ago, Mexico decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin, but it still has stiff penalties for drug trafficking.

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Arizona mom turns to scripture to survive in Mexican jail
Thu May 30, 2013 > An Arizona mom accused of drug smuggling says she is innocent; Daughter to Mexican officials: "Please do your part and really investigate"; A Mexican judge is weighing the case against the Mormon mother of seven; Maldonado was on her way back from a funeral when authorities arrested her

Inside a Mexican jail, Yanira Maldonado wept. A devout Mormon, the Arizona mother of seven said Wednesday she's been turning to scripture to survive ever since authorities falsely accused her of drug smuggling last week. "Reading the scriptures, reading the Book of Mormon, praying, fasting," Maldonado told CNN. "And all the support that I've been getting from my family, my husband, my children, and everybody out there reaching out to help."

A judge is weighing whether to set Maldonado free after authorities accused her of drug smuggling and alleged they found 12 pounds of marijuana under her bus seat. Maldonado maintained her innocence Wednesday. "I'm a good mom. I love the gospel. I'm LDS. And we work hard to have what we have," she said. "You know, we're not rich, but we're very honest and we always do our best to help other people."

Woman detained in Mexico: 'I'm innocent'

The Mexican military officials who arrested Maldonado haven't made their case yet in court. The soldiers were scheduled to appear Wednesday, but didn't show, according to a defense attorney. Hearings in the case are set to continue Friday. Maldonado's family denies the charges and says they're optimistic the case against her is crumbling. "We have high hopes," Anna Soto, Maldonado's daughter, told CNN on Wednesday. "So I'm just looking forward to that. Hopefully, Friday, I'm praying that she will be home and be set free."

It's a situation Maldonado said she never imagined when she boarded a bus last week to head back to the United States after attending her aunt's funeral in Mexico. "I was at the checkpoint. They asked us to get off bus. And they were checking for drugs or I don't know what else," she said. "And they say they found something under my seat. But I never saw anything. They didn't show me anything. It was just amazing all that, what they did."

Fearing for her life
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Flyflicker · May 30, 2013

More collateral damage in the war on drugs.

waltky · May 31, 2013

Free at last, free at last - Thank God Almighty she's free at last...

Arizona Mom Facing Drug Charge Released In Mexico

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Mormon mom mistaken for mule in Mexico

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