Illegal immigrants found in highway traffic stops

More than two dozen illegal immigrants were detained in traffic stops along Interstate 70 Wednesday in what authorities called an operation targeting overloaded vehicles.

The Colorado State Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stopped two vehicles, one near Grand Junction and the other in the Denver area, containing 27 Mexican immigrants, the state patrol said in a news release Thursday.

In the Grand Junction area, authorities stopped a large SUV with three women and 13 men. The four seats had been removed and no one was wearing seat belts. Eleven people were found in a vehicle on I-70 near Denver.

The vehicles were stopped as part of a joint enforcement operation targeting overloaded vehicles. The operation also included the Durango area, but there were no stops there.