SHERYL KORNMAN

Officials on both sides of the Arizona-Mexico border have a plan to keep heavy traffic flowing smoothly through the holiday season.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials call the binational effort Operation Paisano (paisano means fellow countryman in Spanish).

Hours will be extended for passenger vehicles crossing at Nogales and for commercial vehicles crossing at the Mariposa commercial facility there.

More than 146,000 Mexican citizens passed through official border crossing stations at Nogales from Nov. 10, 2003, to January 11, U.S. Customs spokesman Roger Maier said in a news release.

Operation Paisano

Dec. 17-20: Entry to Mexico open 24 hours via Mariposa/Nogales West port of entry

Jan. 1-2: Northbound from Mexico and southbound to Mexico, open 24 hours

Jan 3-6: Northbound from Mexico and southbound from Arizona open until midnight

Jan. 7-9: Northbound and southbound open 24 hours

Jan. 9 through April 2: Operations at the Mariposa commercial facility, which handles commercial traffic only, will be seven days a week. It will remain closed on Sundays until then.