An Arizona mother has been released from the Mexican prison where she was jailed on drug charges and possibly for not bribing officials quickly enough. The Mormon mother of seven children from Arizona was arrested after marijuana was found under her seat on a commercial bus.

Yanira Maldonado, 42, walked out of the prison near Nogales, Mexico and straight into her husband's arms when she was freed late Thursday night.

"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 said.

Maldonado planned to immediately return to the U.S.

A public outcry followed the arrest, with US officials and press portraying Maldonado as an innocent who was framed in an attempt to extort her.

Court officials reviewed video footage showing Maldonado boarding the bus carrying only blankets, bottles of water, and a small purse. Maldonado was accused of having 12 pounds of marijuana under her seat. All charges against Maldonado have been dropped.

Allegedly, the marijuana was found under the bus seats where the Mormon couple, both of whom are US citizens, were sitting. They were returning from a funeral in Mexico to their Phoenix, Arizona-area home.  Maldonado's attorney noted that it was a fairly sophisticated smuggling system that had the marijuana attached to the seat bottoms with metal hooks, which would have been impossible for a passenger to rig.

Officers first told Gary Maldonado he was under arrest, but after Maldonado begged them to let her come to serve as a translator, they decided to arrest her instead.

Gary Maldonado told press that a man sitting behind them on the bus ran away as the bus was searched. He said the man might have been the true owner of the drugs. He added that of the 40 people on the bus, Maldonado was the only passenger that appeared American.

Gary frantically tried to locate his wife and didn't find her until the next morning. During that time, a relative of Yanira told press, she "had a rough night. Their interrogation included putting her in a non-air-conditioned room and waking her up several times in the middle of night - trying to get her to sign documents that she said she couldn't read," Brandon Klippel, a relative, told press.