Illegal Aliens Caught on I-70

By GABE WELLS Staff Writer
Apr 23, 2007

A Belmont County investigator suspects separate groups of illegal aliens arrested within 15 minutes of one another Sunday in Wheeling and St. Clairsville were traveling together, while a West Virginia State Police trooper is skeptical of that theory.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials from Columbus picked up 14 illegal aliens at about 6 a.m. today from the Belmont County Jail, according to Chief Deputy Joseph Hummel. The 11 men and three women from Mexico were stopped by deputies Sunday afternoon in the parking lot of Kroger in the Ohio Valley Plaza in St. Clairsville.

At about 12:30 p.m. Sunday, troopers from the Wheeling Detachment of the West Virginia State Police stopped a van with 13 illegal Mexicans who told police they were traveling from Arizona to Philadelphia. Hummel said the Mexican residents stopped in St. Clairsville told deputies they were traveling from Pennsylvania to Colorado, but the chief is not sure he believes their story.

The chief said both vehicles were registered in the same state, and they were separated by just several minutes and only a few miles. Hummel said he may contact the Wheeling Detachment to discuss the investigations.

“The Ohio County bunch also had Arizona plates,” Hummel said. “They claimed they were going to Philly, and our gang said they were coming from Pennsylvania to Colorado. How do we know they weren’t with them, and they just weren’t far enough along? There’s not much interstate to Ohio County, and both sides apprehended them within 15 minutes of each other.”

Cpl. J.A. Laing investigated the Wheeling stop. He said he is “99 percent” sure those detainees had nothing to do with those held in St. Clairsville. Laing said he believes illegals from Arizona travel Interstate 70 every day.

Hummel said the late-model Dodge truck stopped in St. Clairsville is still being held by Belmont County officials. The vehicle is not registered to any of the illegals taken into custody. The chief said investigators have not reached the vehicle’s owner.

The 13 illegals taken into custody by the West Virginia State Police still are in custody at the Northern Regional Jail. I.C.E. officials from Pittsburgh are expected to pick up those detainees today. Their vehicle was stopped because the driver was weaving in the driving lane.

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