A traffic stop in Bradley County led to the detention of 12 illegal immigrants traveling from Texas to Pennsylvania and a possible charge of human trafficking.
A narcotics detective with the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office was watching traffic on Interstate 75 Wednesday when he spotted a van weaving and following too closely near exit 33, Bradley County Sheriff Tim Gobble said Friday.
The detective stopped the 2004 Dodge Caravan and found 12 Mexican nationals — nine men and three women, the sheriff said.
“Because we didn’t have anything on them, no narcotics were found, we couldn’t hold them,” Sheriff Gobble said, so the department contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Chattanooga.
“From our conversation with them, we understand they are going to be deported and (the driver) possibly charged with human trafficking,” he said.
ICE spokeswoman Temple Black said the illegal immigrants will be processed, photographed and fingerprinted, and “those with outstanding charges will be identified to the U.S. attorney for further action.”
Since September 2006 the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office has identified 206 illegal immigrants who were turned over to ICE for deportation, according to a news release.
“Some have been stopped for traffic violations, (while) others have been arrested in Bradley County for some sort of criminal offense,” Sheriff Gobble said.
“Once they serve their sentence they are turned over to ICE for deportation through our Criminal Alien Program which we joined in 2007.”
The Criminal Alien Program is a partnership with ICE that helps identify and deport criminal illegal immigrants.
“I-75 is a route commonly used for a lot of things like narcotics. This is not the first time we’ve caught illegal aliens coming up and down in the interstate,” Sheriff Gobble said.