More vans filled with suspected migrants from China were stopped Tuesday morning in Coral Gables, a law enforcement source told Local 10 News.
According to the source, 13 migrants each were inside two separate vans and were detained. The drivers of both vans were also taken into custody.
One van was stopped outside of Gables Estates at the corner of Southwest 88th Street and Old Cutler Road. The other van was stopped along Kendall Drive, according to the source.
Sky 10 was above the Kendall Drive scene around 8:30 a.m. as the van was stopped on the side of the roadway and the suspected migrants were sitting on the ground.
Tuesday’s incidents come after another group of Chinese migrants were detained in the Gables earlier this month.
In that case, nearly two dozen migrants were taken into federal custody Jan. 17 after Coral Gables police disrupted a suspected human smuggling operation.
Officers responded to reports of suspicious activity near the Snapper Creek Canal, where a witness believed they saw a kidnapping in progress.
“A very alert security professional at one of our homeowners associations observed an abduction in progress,” Coral Gables Police Chief Edward Hudak explained.
A be-on-the-lookout alert led officers to locate a U-Haul van and a tan Toyota near the 6700 block of LeJeune Road.
Inside the U-Haul authorities said they discovered 21 migrants, including individuals from China, Ecuador, Cuba, and Brazil.
