Haywood officers find 13 suspected illegal immigrants in a van
By Jon Ostendorff • July 22, 2009 04:11 PM


WAYNESVILLE — Officers in Haywood County found 13 suspected illegal immigrants traveling in a Chevrolet Astro van on Interstate 40, Sheriff Bobby Suttles said Wednesday.



The passengers, who ranged in age from three years old to 47, were all detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency after the July 16 traffic stop.


The driver of the van, Meliton Mendoza Guniterrez, 45, of Salina, Utah, was ticketed for driving without a license.


Corporal Jason Hughes of the Canton Police Department spotted the van at 11:20 a.m. on I-40 eastbound near the 24 mile marker. The van was traveling 65 mph in a 60 zone, according to the officer's report.


He followed the van and noticed it swerve into the left lane once. He ran the tag and discovered the van did not have insurance.


Hughes stopped the van at Exit 31.


The officer walked up to the driver's door and tried to talk to Guniterrez, who did not speak English. He looked in the back and saw a dozen people.


A man in the passenger seat spoke English and helped the officer get Guniterrez's date of birth.


Hughes ran his name and found he was wanted by federal immigration authorities for a probation violation and had a prior criminal recording of drug trafficking, according to an incident report.


Deputy Doug Carver, who had arrived to help, asked everyone to get out of the van.


Carver called for a Sheriff's Office van to take the people to the county jail to wait for federal authorities.


Suttles said his office doesn't actively look for illegal immigrants but does take action when they are discovered. He said the people were probably traveling to work locally.


The sheriff said riding in the back of a van with no seatbelts was extremely dangerous, especially for the small child.


“I don't have the manpower to work illegal immigration,â€