Thread: TX - Police find more than 20 immigrants packed into cargo van

By Dale Lezon | November 15, 2012 | Updated: November 15, 2012 11:18pm
chron.com

A man and his wife said they were terrified when they woke up to police officers at their front door with a crowd of people from Mexico and Central America found loaded in van parked on a street near their home in southwest Houston early Thursday morning.

The incident happened about 1:15 a.m. in the 6300 block of Edgemoor near Hillcroft, according to the Houston Police Department.

Police had little information about the incident, said HPD spokeswoman Jodi Silva. But federal immigration officials released a few details about what happened.

Suspicious van

A patrol officer spotted what appeared to be a suspicious van pull to the curb, said Greg Palmore, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. When the officer pulled up behind the parked van, some people got out and ran away. The officer followed them and caught them.

When they looked in the van, police discovered more than 20 people huddled inside, Palmore said. The people were from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Among them were 17 men, five women and two young boys. They were all taken into ICE custody to determine if they are in the country illegally.

Residents questioned

Palmore said so far no evidence indicates the immigrants were in the couple's house. However, he added, investigators were trying to determine if the residents in the home were connected to the people in the van.

The residents said the officers told them some of the people ran into their back yard, and the officers questioned the residents about the van and the people inside. But the husband and wife, who say they have lived at the home for about 10 years, said they knew nothing about the van or the people inside.

The couple said officers took the immigrants out of the van and brought them into the home to keep them warm in the chilly morning. They gave them blankets.

The incident was frightening, the couple said.

"I was terrified," Humberto Soto said through a translator. "Nothing has happened to us like this before."

Soto said he and his wife were asleep and woke up when they heard a neighbor's dog barking. Soto's wife, Elena Soto, said she was calm hours after the incident, but still felt uncomfortable about it.

"She felt confident, but now she feels scared," said her son, Greg Soto, who translated for her.

Police find more than 20 immigrants packed into cargo van - Houston Chronicle

"I was terrified," Humberto Soto said through a translator. "Nothing has happened to us like this before."

Soto said he and his wife were asleep and woke up when they heard a neighbor's dog barking. Soto's wife, Elena Soto, said she was calm hours after the incident, but still felt uncomfortable about it.

"She felt confident, but now she feels scared," said her son, Greg Soto, who translated for her.

Still can't speak English