Deputies: Immigrants Stashed In SUV (KPHO-AZ)

Deputies: Immigrants Stashed In SUV

POSTED: 7:30 pm MST November 1, 2010

PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. -- Pinal County sheriff's deputies apprehended nine suspected illegal immigrants Monday morning after a short pursuit near Eleven Mile Corner Road.

A deputy said he saw a 1998 Dodge Durango pass him on Arizona Highway 287 and noticed between 8-12 passengers in the vehicle.

Deputies said they tried to stop the vehicle, which they said was going 70 mph in a 35-mph school zone and even illegally passed a school bus trying to get away.

When he began to chase the car, the driver came to a stop and some of the passengers ran toward the closest town, according to officials.

Two people were found in the back seat and admitted to being illegal immigrants from Mexico, according to the sheriff's office. Seven other suspected illegal immigrants were found hiding in bushes, three under a trailer and four more under a pile of tires in a back yard.

The three under the trailer also admitted to being in the U.S. illegally, deputies said.

All suspects were turned over to Border Patrol agents.

The car was registered to a Manuel Alonso Inzunza Moreno, who said his cousin Eloy Fabricio Inzunza Moreno had registered the vehicle in his name without his permission, officials said.

Pinal officials say Eloy Fabricio Inzunza Moreno is a "coyote" suspected of transporting illegal immigrants into the United States.

Deputies said they are still investigating the case and are looking for Eloy Fabricio Inzunza Moreno.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts are asked to contact the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.