Seattle – Twenty-two Chinese nationals were in custody Wednesday after they apparently let themselves out of a 40-foot cargo container that had been used to smuggle them from China, officials said.
The 18 men and four women, all believed to be in their 20s and 30s, seemed to be in good physical condition after about two weeks in the container, said Michael Milne, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Port of Seattle guards spotted the group about 1 a.m.
Milne said there was no evidence of “any real criminal or terrorist activity. … Just an alien-smuggling operation.” He he had no information about how much they paid for the voyage or who ran the operation.
Milne said it could take several days to determine whether they would be deported, be held as material witnesses or face other proceedings, such as asylum hearings.
The container, the second from the bottom in a stack of four, had been flagged for a special examination, but that had not been conducted before the group was caught, Milne said.
