A woman arrested during a drug smuggling bust was also booked into jail on an animal cruelty charge after she reportedly punched a border agent's horse.
Border Patrol agents were conducting enforcement operations near Why, Ariz. late at night on May 21 when they spotted a group of about nine people wearing large backpacks in the desert.
According to police paperwork, the area is frequently used by illegal immigrants and narcotics smugglers trying to get to Interstate 8.
Ground units located the group and took them into custody after they tried to run away. Karla Banegas-Banegas, one of the suspects in the group, struck a Border Patrol horse "in the face with a closed fist," paperwork says.
Seven backpacks were located nearby with what was determined to be 374 pounds of marijuana. The street value of the marijuana is worth more than $500,000.
A few people in the group admitted to smuggling the drugs, but Banegas-Banegas remained silent.
Banegas-Banegas was transferred to Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and booked into jail on counts of drug possession and transport, as well as animal cruelty to a work animal.
