Four charged with immigrant smuggling
Customs agents detain 42 illegal immigrants in Newark
(CNN) -- Four people were arrested and charged with immigrant smuggling Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, according to a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.
Customs agents also detained 42 illegal immigrants on two flights from Los Angeles, California, spokeswoman Janet Rapaport said.
It was the second time in four days that large numbers of illegal immigrants were discovered at the airport. In all, 130 people have been detained.
Those detained Sunday included 35 men, five women and a girl of toddler age, Rapaport said. One is from Chile and the rest are from Mexico.
They were being held in detention facilities in New Jersey and would be brought before an immigration judge.
The illegal immigrants traveled from Los Angeles on two flights that arrived at 5:45 a.m. and 7 a.m.
Rapaport said how the illegal immigrants managed to board the two flights has not been determined. A passenger needs only photo identification, not proof of citizenship, to board a domestic flight.
She could not confirm how the illegal immigrants were picked up once they arrived in Newark.
The four people arrested in the airport were charged with smuggling illegal immigrants, Rapaport said. An investigation is under way to determine if they were involved in a larger smuggling ring, she said.
Rapaport would not confirm the flights on which the departures and arrests happened.
Sources told CNN that passengers exiting American Airlines Flight 152 were greeted by agents with automatic weapons.
That flight left Los Angeles at 10:55 p.m. Saturday, arriving in Newark at 7:01 a.m. Sunday ET.
American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said customs agents were waiting in the terminal to make the arrests.
"American Airlines had no prior knowledge that there would be arrests made at Newark airport," he said.
Eighty-eight illegal immigrants were detained Thursday in a similar incident at the same airport.
Rapaport said she was unaware whether the four people arrested Sunday were connected with the group detained earlier.
CNN's Dalit Herdoon and Lauren Rivera contributed to this story.
