Van with human traffickers crashes in Bradenton Publix parking lot

[SugarShack]

Van with human traffickers crashes in Bradenton Publix parking lot

http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/2011/january/200466/Van-with-human-traffickers-crashes-in-Bradenton-Publix-parking-lot


Last Updated: Tuesday, January 25, 2011
BRADENTON -- FLA
A chase involving the Border Patrol started on Interstate 75 and ended in a Bradenton Publix parking lot Tuesday.

A patrol agent said he spotted a suspicious van on the highway and followed it until it crashed in the store's parking lot near State Road 64. Once the van stopped, he said, men inside it took off running.

Several law enforcement agencies, including the Manatee County SWAT team, worked together to track the men. Armed and dressed in protective gear, officers searched the nearby woods and neighborhoods.

Johnnie Charles runs the auto detail shop next to the crash scene. He said he heard two cars collide. When he looked at the scene, he said he saw a large group of armed people leave the van.

Officials say human traffickers were inside the van.

The van hit Joe Barbato's truck.

"I got smacked and air bags went off. I just checked myself out real quick and looked in my rear view mirrors and saw a bunch of guys scatttered everywhere," said Joe Barbato.

The U.S. Border Patrol's agent-in-charge Steve McDonald says human trafficking is a big, dangerous business on Interstate 75.

"It's something to we take very seriously in light of recent events . It's getting very dangerous out there," said Steve McDonald.

Authorities say they caught one of the eight people who fled the van. The Border Patrol says the group in the van was in the country for five days. Officials say they have called off their search.



Why?
:shrug:

[virgogal]

1. Why what?

[SugarShack]

2. Why call off the search if you only have one of the eight?