A family traveling from Phoenix to Puerto Peñasco, Sonora says they lived a nightmare when Mexican agents stopped them once they crossed the border.
María, one of the victims who for security reasons did not agree to reveal her true identity, told the alleged abuses that she and her family suffered at the hands of the Sonora police.
“He didn’t let me talk, he didn’t let me say anything … he insulted me, he told me to get off, he put handcuffs on me and between two officers they lifted me and threw me into the patrol car,” Maria said.
María assures that the police did not give them any reason why they were detained.
“They were being very offensive, they were mocking, they were recording us, they told us that we were not going to get out of there,” she said.
After being arrested, María indicates that they went to a qualifying judge who accused them of different crimes and in turn, they told her that she had to issue a cash payment for allegedly assaulting the police and resisting arrest.
Later, María said that she was admitted to a state prison where she was denied communication with the US embassy despite being a US citizen.
Currently the US embassy is working on the case of María and her family.
The Public Security of Sonora and the State Prosecutor’s Office reported that María was allegedly detained for passing a stop sign and having alcohol breath. Information that María flatly denied.
After the incident, María says that the municipal police have been watching her house in Puerto Peñasco.
“I think that if this happened to us, it can happen to another citizen,” she added.
Although it is true that the case is under investigation, the consular network assures that there are resources of help for tourists who suffer some type of abuse or extortion in Mexico.
“They are not alone, there are always platforms that are independent even in cases where some authority is the person who is victimizing them, it is very important that they are attended to,” said the consul of Mexico in Nogales Marco Moreno Baez.
Source: Telemundo Arizona
