Illegal
aliens detained when driver arrested.
Knife threat leads police to 11 immigrants
WASHINGTON
TWP. Eleven
immigrants entering the country illegally were detained
by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents
during the arrest of a 19-year-old man Saturday near a
gas station.
At 7:30
p.m., police were called to the Spartan gas station on
West Mill Road after Francisco Porras of Denver, Colo.,
began threatening a delivery driver with a knife, Lt.
Michael Bailey said. After the incident, Porras drove
away in a van on
East Mill Road,
where he was stopped by police. Bailey did not say why
Porras threatened the driver. After an investigation,
police discovered that 11 passengers in the van had
entered the country illegally through
Mexico
and were on their way to New York City as part of a
smuggling operation.
"Two of
the van's occupants were involved in an operation that
was transporting illegal immigrants into the country,"
Bailey said. Agents from the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Department (ICE) were notified and took
custody of the immigrants. ICE agent Fred Dryer did not
return phone calls by press time seeking comment.
Police
charged Porras with aggravated assault, possession of a
weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.
He was taken to Morris County jail in default of $25,000
bail, Bailey said.
