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State troopers found a van packed with immigrants Monday after a Charlotte man called 911 to report that his cousin had been kidnapped, officials said.
The incident started about around 9 a.m. near West Sugar Creek Road and Interstate 85, where investigators said family members were waiting to meet a male relative apparently arriving from Mexico.
The white van was supposed to drop him off, but the family couldn't pay the whole fee the driver demanded.
"When they couldn't get the money, they wouldn't let him off the van," said N.C. Highway Patrol Sgt. Garrett Barger.
The van took off, heading north on I-85. So a cousin called 911 and reported a kidnapping in progress.
The cousin followed the van along I-85, relaying its whereabouts to state troopers. Sgt. Barger spotted the van getting off on Exit 60, Dale Earnhardt Boulevard, near Kannapolis.
He and several other officers followed the van into a BP gas station. When they asked the occupants to step out, 18 people - including the driver, his associate and 16 passengers - piled out of the van.
Barger said officers determined the passengers were from several countries, including Mexico, Nicaragua and Ethiopia. Everyone, including the driver and his associate, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Barger said.
Authorities haven't released the names of anyone involved. It's unclear what their immigration status is, and ICE officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"We've been investigating this type of thing before," Barger said. Such transport vans for immigrants are routine, he said, and it's particularly common to stumble upon such vans after an accident.
"People tell you, 'Hey, there's a lot of people who were in that van,'" following a wreck sometimes, Barger said.
"It's a business," he said. "I don't know how often, but they come through here."
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