Last week, an Arizona mother of seven was detained in N, Mexico and thrown in jail, facing charges of smuggling marijuana. Yanira Maldonado, 41, and her husband were taking a bus back from a funeral when stopped by military police outside of Hermosillo. Everyone from the bus was herded into a small room and after a two-hour wait, the military came and told Gary Maldonado, her husband and also a US Citizen, that twelve pounds of marijuana had been found under his seat, but then they stated that the drugs were actually found under Yanira’s seat. She was arrested and is being held in a jail in the border town of Nogeles.
The family’s Mexican attorney arranged a $5,000 bribe for police and prison officials, but it was rejected, and Maldonado appeared before a judge today for the first time. No verdict was issued as expected and she remains in custody, but witnesses continue to testify and the prosecutions case seems weak. However, if the judge does not set her free she could be held for months until the trial.
Gary and Yanira were in Mexico for an aunt’s funeral and riding a luxury bus liner that brought them from Phoenix because it seemed safer. They claim they were the last ones on the bus and brought no luggage aboard, but placed their bags in the buses’ side compartment. Gary wisely collected witness accounts on the scene after the military police arrested his wife. The family claims they are being framed.
Gary, now safely in the US, the Maldonado family, and even the office of state Senator Jeff Flake are closely monitoring the situation.
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The family’s Mexican attorney arranged a $5,000 bribe for police and prison officials, but it was rejected, and Maldonado appeared before a judge today for the first time. No verdict was issued as expected and she remains in custody, but witnesses continue to testify and the prosecutions case seems weak. However, if the judge does not set her free she could be held for months until the trial.
Gary and Yanira were in Mexico for an aunt’s funeral and riding a luxury bus liner that brought them from Phoenix because it seemed safer. They claim they were the last ones on the bus and brought no luggage aboard, but placed their bags in the buses’ side compartment. Gary wisely collected witness accounts on the scene after the military police arrested his wife. The family claims they are being framed.
Gary, now safely in the US, the Maldonado family, and even the office of state Senator Jeff Flake are closely monitoring the situation.
***
I recently published an account of a year I lived in Costa Rica, where a friend and US citizen was arrested for allegedly growing marijuana. He was thrown into a rough prison alongside murders, big-time drug dealers, and cocaine traffickers, the only US citizen in a prison of 1,600 rough Central American prisoners. I had to visit him almost every weekend, bringing home food, money, books, clothing, and communications from his family, his attorney, and the embassy. Eventually accepted a plea bargain instead of trusting justice in a corrupt, inept court system. He was sentenced to 5.4 years and still remains in prison, more than 2 years later. If you want to read a first-hand account of what life in a Central American prison is like, and the complexities to the police and judicial systems there, I suggest reading South of Normal.
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