Officers Bust Human Trafficking Operation

Mon Jun 18, 6:21 PM ET



Police say that they uncovered a human trafficking operation that was bringing illegal aliens into the Upstate for a fee.

Investigators said that a man living in Greenville wanted his brother to come to the Upstate from Mexico, so he paid to have him brought to Greenville illegally.

But Mateo Martin said that once his brother got here, smuggled in with several other people in a van, the circumstances changed.

Martin had already paid $2,500 for the service, but he said that the driver demanded another $500. When Martin said he didn?t have the money, the driver took off, saying he was taking the brother back to Mexico.

Martin called police early Friday morning to report what had happened. With help from the South Carolina Highway Patrol and Greenville County deputies, officers tracked down the van near a gas station off Interstate 85 and White Horse Road.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement took the driver of the van, Carlos Castro, into custody, along with Martin's brother, Domingo Martin Perez. A local Hispanic radio host told News 4 that she discusses immigration issues every day on her show. She said this should be a warning to others about coming into the country illegally.

Martha Lucia Cohen said, "They need to have a passport. They need to have a visa to come here legal to the United States. But if they don't find a passport or visa to come into the United States, they try to find different ways to do it. This is one of the ways."

Cohen said, "My advice: please don't do that. If you want to come here to the United States, try to wait. Try to do it in a legal way. I know it's hard. It's easy to say."

Martin, who speaks little English, told News 4 that he also came into this country illegally five years ago.

Police said the fact that Martin called them illustrates the Hispanic community's growing faith in law enforcement.

Greenville police Lt. Mike Gambrell said, "In this case, this shows that some of work has been accomplished to show that we have built up a lot of our trust factor than initially when they might have come into the United States. So we're able to obtain that information from them and investigate a crime."

Castro is scheduled to appear in federal court.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/wyff/20070618/lo_wyff/13524146