http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/ ... 644703.htm

Posted on Tue, Jan. 17, 2006



U.S. agents in Detroit nab truck smuggling Chinese immigrants


Associated Press

DETROIT - U.S. authorities say they have arrested a Canadian truck driver after finding nine illegal immigrants from China hiding in the back of his tractor-trailer.

"It was another one of those cases where the officer got suspicious while asking the driver routine questions," said Ronald Smith, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "Agents became suspicious because the driver was acting nervous."

The six women and three men were in excellent physical condition, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The driver, a 39-year-old from Windsor, Ontario, was bound for Gary, Ind., with a load of steel when he crossed into Detroit at the Ambassador Bridge on Monday. Agents discovered the immigrants after the driver was told to open the doors.

U.S. authorities detained the driver pending criminal charges. They also detained the immigrants, who face deportation, as possible witnesses.