Traffic stop nets human trafficking arrests in Jasper County (Beaumont Enterprise)

Traffic stop nets human trafficking arrests in Jasper County
By Jessica Lipscomb
Published 02:50 p.m., Friday, June 24, 2011

A routine traffic stop turned into a human trafficking arrest Thursday morning in Jasper County.

Chief Deputy Ralph Nichols said a deputy pulled over a GMC Yukon SUV with an Oklahoma license plate for changing lanes without using a turn signal. Nichols said the seven people inside the SUV could only provide identification cards from Mexico.

The deputy ran the IDs through the department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which put a hold on all seven people, Nichols said.

ICE took five of the people Thursday. The other two were being held at the Jasper County jail on charges of human trafficking, a second-degree felony.

Nichols said the two were apparently taking the other passengers to North Carolina or New York.