Arizona woman held on Mexican drug smuggling charge back in US
Yanira Maldonado was released by Mexican authorities late Thursday and returned to the US early Friday morning.
Yanira Maldonado, 42, left, accompanied by her husband, Gary, center, speaks to an official after being released from a prison on the outskirts of Nogales, Mexico late Thursday, May 30, 2013.
Cristina Silva/AP
Nogales, Mexico
An Arizona woman held in a Mexico jail for a week on a drug-smuggling charge is back in the United States after a court reviewed the case and dismissed the allegations.
The Arizona Republic reports (http://bit.ly/18D1PpP ) a small sedan carrying 42-year-old Yanira Maldonado and her family members could be seen crossing through the Nogales port of entry into Arizona at about 12:30 a.m. Friday.
Maldonado walked out of the prison on the outskirts of Nogales, Mexico, and into her husband's arms late Thursday. KSAZ-TV reports she said later at a news conference that she still loves Mexico and plans to return in the future to visit family there.
The family's lawyer in Nogales, Jose Francisco Benitez Paz, says a judge determined Maldonado was no longer a suspect, and all allegations against her were dropped.