(Image source from: A lady files lawsuit for forcefully undergoing illegal cavity search)

A New Mexico lady was wrongfully strip-searched by federal agents at the El Paso border crossing. Not just that, they forcibly took her to a hospital and made her undergo an illegal body cavity search to detect drugs hidden inside her body.

The lawsuit, lodged with U.S. District Court in El Paso reveals that the 54-year-old U.S. citizen was "brutally" strip-searched by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in December 2012 and put through additional random screening at the Cordova Bridge in El Paso, where a drug sniffing dog jumped on her. She was handcuffed and sent a hospital where the doctors performed a CT scan and other tests without warrant. The authorities found no trace of drugs.

'The woman was returning from a visit to a recently deported family friend in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico,' the lawsuit further revealed.

Roger Maier, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation. "We do not tolerate corruption or abuse within our ranks, and we fully cooperate with any criminal or administrative investigations of alleged misconduct by any of our personnel, on or off-duty," Maier said.

According to the agency's website, CBP officers are expected to "conduct their duties in a professional manner and to treat each traveler with dignity and respect." The website says agents "use diverse factors to refer individuals for targeted examinations."

"After enduring approximately six hours of demeaning and highly invasive searches, (the woman) was released without any charge," the lawsuit said.

However, her attorney said she was charged $5,000 by the hospital.

"What is truly frightening about this incident is that it could have happened to anyone," said ACLU-NM Legal Director Laura Schauer Ives. "The failed drug war and militarized border region have created an environment in which law enforcement officials increasingly inflict extreme and illegal searches on innocent Americans."

The lawsuit calls for an unspecified compensation for punitive damages.

AW: Suchorita Dutta Choudhury