Smugglers transporting vans packed with 26 Chinese migrants detained in Florida: police

Police in Florida say that two vans packed with 26 Chinese migrants were stopped on Tuesday morning while two alleged smugglers were detained, Fox News Digital has learned. 

The incident took place in Coral Gables, a city near Miami, and comes more than a week after a group of more than 30 migrants in vans were also apprehended there.

In today's incident, Coral Gables Police Department Detective Khaled Tahah said that an alert citizen contacted police at around 8 a.m. regarding possible Chinese migrants being transported in passenger vans.

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"Our units responded to the area and were able to locate both vans. Traffic stops were conducted on each van and it resulted in a total of 26 people who appear to be Chinese migrants."

Taha said that the occupants of the vans are a mix of both males and females. The two alleged smugglers are males.

One of the vans was stopped at 11600 Old Cutler Road, while the other was stopped at the 8800 block of Old Cutler Road at Kendall, he said. 

Several people could be seen sitting on the side of the road as police conducted the stop, WSVN reports. They were later loaded onto county trolleys and transported to an undisclosed location, per the outlet.

Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Customs and Border Patrol responded to the scene and have taken over the investigation, Tahah said.

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Fox News Digital reached out to both agencies for further information but did not immediately receive a response.

Tuesday's incident comes more than a week after a group of more than 30 migrants, most of them Chinese citizens, were found inside a Toyota and U-Haul truck also in Coral Gables after a report of an alleged abduction.

That incident took place on Jan. 17, after a security guard for a homeowners association reported seeing an abduction around 9:35 a.m., Coral Gables Police Chief Edward James Hudak Jr. told reporters. 

The vehicles were stopped by officers, and the woman who was allegedly abducted was taken from the Toyota. Officers then began investigating the U-Haul truck, which had 16 Chinese females, 15 Chinese males, one male from Cuba and a female from Ecuador, according to police.

In addition to the migrants in the Toyota were a Cuban man, a Brazilian woman and a man from Ecuador, police said.

Investigators were looking into whether the woman who was possibly being abducted was trying to escape her alleged smugglers. The Coral Gables Fire Department responded to provide medical care to the migrants, who were "tired" but in good condition, police said.

The migrants were handed over to the U.S. Border Patrol, and four others were taken into police custody related to the incident. 

The number of Chinese nationals being encountered at the border has increased enormously since 2021. There were 1,970 encounters in FY 2022 and over 24,000 in FY 2023, with over 24,200 encounters recorded in the 2024 fiscal year as of April 2024.

Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.