ALLEGED SMUGGLER TO BE TRIED IN MEXICO

EL PASO -- A 25-year-old woman was turned over to Mexico's attorney
general's office, or PGR, after being arrested by U.S. agents during
an alleged smuggling attempt at the Zaragoza Bridge, officials said.

On Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found 25
pounds of marijuana hidden in wooden shelves inside a minivan
allegedly driven by Margarita Alvarado Santillan of Mexico. She had
her two children with her.

Alvarado is the first defendant in El Paso to be handed to Mexican
authorities as part of the new Illegal Drug Program, which allows
certain Mexican smugglers to be prosecuted in Mexico. The program
began April 15.

On April 22, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement handed the PGR a
case involving 1,200 pounds of marijuana in a tractor-trailer at the
Bridge of the Americas. The truck driver was not arrested.