TUCSON - Nine illegal immigrants from China have been arrested in three separate groups in or near Nogales since Tuesday.
In all, 23 people from China have been caught in southern Arizona in slightly more than three months — including 14 in November.
U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Mike Scioli said some of them paid smugglers $20,000 apiece.
Agents at Nogales received a call Tuesday about five people sitting under an overpass.
They had to communicate with the five through an interpreter by phone.
The five were waiting for a prearranged ride.
The same day, two Chinese seen on camera climbing over the border fence were arrested, and on Wednesday two more were caught sitting on a hill west of the Mariposa port of Entry.
