HIDALGO – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested two women in connection with a failed attempt to smuggle a 16-year-old girl from Mexico.

The incident happened Tuesday at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge when a CBP officer encountered three young women claiming to be United States citizens aboard a gray Saturn Vue.

After checking the U.S. birth certificates they presented, the officer referred the women to secondary for further inspection of the 16-year-old female traveler.

A secondary inspection revealed that the youngest passenger was not U.S. citizen but in fact a citizen of Mexico without valid documents to legally enter or reside in the United States.

Officers also discovered that the birth certificate and social security card she used did not belong to her.

CBP seized the vehicle and arrested the two adult women, who were presented before a federal U.S. magistrate on charges of alleged violation of U.S. immigration law.

The minor Mexican female traveler was released to a parent and both returned to Mexico.