By IAN HICKS Staff Writer

The Ohio County Sheriff's Department on Thursday detained seven people suspected of being in the country illegally.

Sgt. Doug Ernest said he was traveling east on Interstate 70 Thursday afternoon when he stopped a vehicle with no registration at the weigh station just west of the Elm Grove exit.

"Inside, there were seven subjects, two female and five male," Ernest said. "All of them are here illegally."

Ernest identified those detained as: Johnny Gonzales, Ada Noemy and Alex Sanchez, all of Mexico; Manuela Granda and Santos Cheagui, both of Guatemala; and Carlos Correas and Jose Fuentes, both of El Salvador.

Ernest said he suspected they were illegal immigrants after learning none of them spoke English. He noted one of the subjects had Mexican identification, and the other six were not carrying any identification.

Ernest said most of those detained admitted to him they were in the United States illegally.

He said he was unsure where they might have been staying prior to their arrest, noting they will remain in the custody of sheriff's deputies until positive identification is made by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. If the INS issues detainers for the seven, they will be taken to the Northern Regional Jail.

When that will happen, Ernest said, is unclear.

"That's the million dollar question," he said. "Sometimes it takes (the INS) a while."

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