An Arizona man, David Rene Martinez, is facing charges of transporting illegal immigrants for profit after Border Patrol agents stopped a car he was driving and heard a cell phone ringing in the trunk. The incident occurred on February 1 when agents spotted unauthorized migrants entering a neighborhood near the border wall. Surveillance cameras tracked a blue Ford Focus going into the neighborhood and coming out moments later, heading for the highway.
Court records reveal that agents followed the car and requested Martinez to stop. Initially, Martinez denied having anyone else in the vehicle, but the ringing cell phone in the trunk gave him away. Martinez opened the trunk, claiming it was jammed, but eventually agreed to lower the backseats, revealing a hidden passenger identified as Mixsael Solano Castaneda, an unauthorized migrant from Mexico. Castaneda stated that his uncle had paid to have him smuggled into the United States and that he was instructed to wait at a house in Bisbee until picked up.