18 suspected illegals nabbed at I-10 and Ray

Authorities took into custody 18 suspected illegal immigrants after a traffic stop on Interstate 10 at Ray Road around 8:30 a.m. Feb. 19.

“Interstate 10 is a very popular thoroughfare for coming into Phoenix, which is also a major distribution point” for illegal immigrants, explained Officer D. Young of the Department of Public Safety.

And he should know.

On Jan. 29 he was involved in another illegal immigrant bust when a van carrying 11 suspected illegal immigrants rear-ended a Homeland Security Chevy Suburban.

On Tuesday, Young said he observed an older Ford F-150 pickup truck tailgating traffic during rush hour. When he pulled the vehicle over he found 10 people in the cab and another eight in the bed of the pickup.

“The driver was very cooperative,” Young said.

But for several of the people sleeping in the back, the first they knew something had occurred was when they were woken up by DPS and Phoenix police officers.

The 18, which included four women, were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Smugglers along I-10 are nothing new:

• In 2003, a rolling shootout from Casa Grande to Ray Road left four dead and four in custody as rival groups of smugglers carried on a shootout that left westbound I-10.

• Last February, at Ray Road and 50th Street a rival coyote operation hijacked a van loaded with suspected illegal immigrants at gunpoint.

• That same month an illegal immigrant was kidnapped by armed gunmen after his vehicle was forced off I-10 onto eastbound Loop 202. The gunman’s inability to start the car ended that operation.

• Last March, Phoenix police busted an armed illegal immigrant kidnapping ring that struck at Warner Road and I-10 thanks to a police helicopter that saw the hijacking and followed the suspects home.

• Last July, police discovered a drop house in the 12800 block of South 46th Street with 19 Mexican nationals inside.