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Posted on Friday, April 20, 2007

Illegal Immigrants Found in Vehicle
Gonzalez
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer

A man claiming to be from Arizona remains in the Smith County Jail after a routine traffic stop exposed 10 illegal immigrants hiding in SUV.

Smith County Sheriff Lt. Craig Shelton said the stop occurred Thursday morning on Interstate 20 near Jim Hogg Road.

“Our Interstate Interdiction Officer Darrell Robinson noticed a Chevrolet Tahoe with Arizona tags speeding, so he made a traffic stop,” he said.

Shelton said when Robinson made contact with the driver he initially did not notice anything unusual.

“When he (Robinson) walked up to the side of the vehicle he didn’t see anyone but the driver, but as he started talking to the driver he saw a couple of heads pop up in the back of the vehicle,” he said.

Shelton said Robinson called for back-up to the location and when additional offices arrived they located 10 illegal immigrants in the rear of the Tahoe.
“The driver did not have identification and none of the passengers had identification on them, but there were eight Hispanic males and two Hispanic females located in the vehicle,” he said.

Shelton said the occupants of the Tahoe told Robinson and other officers they were traveling to North Carolina where they were supposed to go to work at a golf course.
The 10 illegal immigrants were transported to the Smith County Jail and Carlos Marquez-Gonzalez, 30, Arizona, was placed under arrest for no driver’s license and then placed on a federal detainer by Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents in Dallas for human smuggling.

Shelton said the immigrants were transported to Dallas where they would later be deported back to Mexico.