Last Tuesday at approximately 2330 hours, a Camp Verde Marshals Office Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2013 Honda Odyssey passenger van for a traffic infraction. While speaking to the driver through a translator, it was discovered the driver did not possess a valid drivers license.
The Deputies then questioned the 14 other people inside the vehicle. All passengers including juveniles and the driver, were later identified as Undocumented Immigrants. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents were contacted for assistance. ICE arrived a short time later and took custody of the driver and passengers. The vehicle was then impounded.
In these situations, people are forced into very confined spaces and deprived of food and water for extended periods of time. Fortunately, in this situation all passengers were healthy and unharmed, that is not always the case.
