A Valley mother has been sitting in jail in Nogales, Sonora, since last week, accused of trying to smuggle a dozen pounds of marijuana on her way back from a family funeral.
Yanira Maldonado's family has a seemingly credible account of the U.S. citizen being framed and subjected to corrupt Mexican authorities.
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If the family's telling the truth, she either was framed or this is some of the shittiest police work on the continent.
According to CNN and other press accounts, Maldonado and her husband were riding back to the United States on a bus, which was pulled over at a military checkpoint.
Police told the couple that the marijuana had been found under her seat, as well as an empty seat next to her.
Both were detained, but Maldonado ended up being jailed on the smuggling charges, and apparently, despite witness accounts saying she didn't bring 12 pounds of weed onto the bus, she's still being held in a Mexican jail.
According to CNN's report, "Her husband was told by authorities that regardless of his wife's guilt or innocence, he would have to pay $5,000 to secure her freedom, the family said."
That still didn't work. Senator Jeff Flake is reportedly "personally monitoring the situation," which doesn't exactly sound reassuring.
That doesn't sound like justice for a woman who appears to be set up on phony charges in Mexico. The best we can tell, the most severe trouble Maldonado's been in with Arizona authorities was a traffic ticket she got last month -- not exactly the international marijuana smuggling type.
Now, does Maldonado's story make you 1,000 times less likely to visit Mexico, where many places have been seeing a tourism decline for some time now?
Cast your vote below:
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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.
