Eight people identified by deputies as illegal immigrants sit in a van after it was stopped Thursday.The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said deputies arrested 17 people in two separate human smuggling cases Thursday.
An MCSO spokesman said 12 people were arrested after their vehicle was stopped by deputies as they headed north out of Maricopa County.
A man and woman were identified as the coyotes for the other 10, who told deputies they paid between $1,200 and $6,000 to be taken to various states in the Midwest, East and South.
Deputies said nine of the people were from Mexico, two from El Salvador and one from Guatemala. All were booked into county jail in downtown Phoenix on state charges, the spokesman said.
In the second incident, deputies working a drug interdiction case near Gila Bend found five men huddled under a tree. The five fled when deputies approached, but quickly gave up, the spokesman said. They said they paid $2,000 to be brought into the U.S. from Mexico. They were also booked into jail on human smuggling charges.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio said his deputies have arrested 226 illegal immigrants the first six months of the year during human smuggling operations.
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