PHARR – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Pharr International Bridge arrested a 20-year-old woman from Weslaco after discovering she was allegedly attempting to smuggle an 11-year-old boy from Mexico.

CBP officers encountered the woman arriving from Mexico in a vehicle with the boy as a passenger. During primary examination, she presented a U.S. birth certificate for the child, claiming he was her brother.

She was referred to a secondary inspection, where CBP officers discovered that the U.S. birth certificate did not belong to the child she claimed was her brother.

The 11-year-old did not have any valid documents to enter or reside in the U.S.

CBP arrested the woman for alleged violation of U.S. immigration law.