A 42-year-old Arizona mom, Yanira Maldonado, had been detained in a Mexican jail on drug-smuggling charges for more than a week when she was released and safely returned to the United States late Thursday.
Video footage showed that she boarded a bus with no packages that could hold the 12 pounds of marijuana she was accused of smuggling, according to ABC News.
Maldonado walked out of the prison, located outside Nogales, Mexico, late Thursday night and straight into the arms of her husband, Gary Maldonado.
She and her family could be seen crossing the border into Arizona in a sedan just after midnight, according to Statesman Journal.
“I’m home! Finally!” exclaimed Maldonado as she entered her home state.
“I’m free. I’m free. I’m free,” she commented, according to NY Daily News. “I was innocent so I was really very happy to be out.”
Despite her ordeal, Maldonado has been exceptionally positive. “Thank you for everything and the quality of person you are,” she told one jail official in Spanish.
She told reporters in a brief meeting, “Many thanks to everyone, especially my God who let me go free, my family, my children, who with their help, I was able to survive this test.”
She leaves Mexico with seemingly no hard feelings. “I love Mexico. My family is still there. So Mexico... it's not Mexico's fault. It's a few people who you know did this to me.”
Image: Twitter