Traffic stop leads to illegal entry suspects

A routine traffic stop by Yuma County deputies on Interstate 8 led to the arrest of seven allegedly illegal entrants Wednesday afternoon, while a Buckeye man was arrested at the port of entry in San Luis for reportedly trying to smuggle an undocumented Mexican national out of the United States.

Yuma County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Darren Simmons said the incident happened at about 2 p.m. near mile marker 10 and Avenue 8E when a deputy attempted to pull over a green sport utility vehicle for speeding. He said the vehicle initially refused to stop but pulled over a short time later.

Simmons said once the vehicle was stopped, it was determined that all the occupants, including the driver, were in the country illegally and taken into custody.

Several other agencies also responded to the traffic stop, including the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Immigration and Custom Enforcement.

Simmons added that the Yuma Sector Border Patrol was notified, and the suspects were turned over to its agents.

On Tuesday, Customs and Border Protection officers and agents were conducting outbound operations at the port when they referred the Pontiac sedan 18-year-old Luis Espinoza-Dominguez was driving for a secondary inspection before entering Mexico.

Instead of being allowed to continue his trip, Espinoza was taken into custody after CBP officers reportedly found Adalberto Rivera Perez, 19, of Sinaloa, Mexico, hiding inside the car's trunk.

The vehicle was seized while Espinoza, of Buckeye, and Perez were both processed for the criminal violations.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.