Twenty-one Chinese were being held early on Wednesday after they apparently arrived in a 12m cargo container aboard a ship from China, officials said.
Port of Seattle security guards spotted the 17 men and four women about 1am at a port terminal, determined that they were not members of the crew from the recently arrived container ship Rotterdam and summoned federal authorities, said Michael Milne, a spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection.
All of the stowaways appeared to be Chinese nationals in their 20s and 30s and in good physical condition after about 15 days in the container that was loaded onto the ship in Shanghai, Milne said.
None appeared to be in control or directing the others, nor was there evidence of "any real criminal or terrorist activity ... just an alien smuggling operation," Milne said.
They were being interviewed with the aid of a translator pending detention, further investigation and likely deportation proceedings, he said.
Flagged
The container, the second from the ground in a stack of four, had been flagged for a special examination which had not been conducted before the group was caught, Milne said. He would not reveal why it had been flagged but said it was equipped with water bottles, food, blankets and toilet facilities.
It was apparently the first detection of a human smuggling attempt using a cargo container in Seattle since a flurry along the US and Canadian West Coast in 2000 and 2001. Almost all of those caught were deported, but three of 18 in a shipping container aboard the NYK Cape May died before reaching Seattle in January 2000.
The Rotterdam docked at about 9am on Tuesday morning and was carrying general cargo. After Shanghai, the ship made three stops at other Asian ports -- Milne said he did not know which ones -- and then at Pusan, South Korea, before heading for Seattle.
Pried open
Early on Wednesday the group apparently pried open the container, lowered themselves about 2m to the ground and tried to slip out of the secured terminal area, he said.
About half were discovered by a guard "on a routine security patrol" within the terminal and the other half were spotted trying to get out through a gate, Milne said.
Once they were intercepted, "there was no attempt by any of them to flee or hide," he said. "They were cooperative."
Port and city police as well as federal authorities established a cordon, checked cars leaving Harbor Island and are confident no one who might have been in the container escaped detection, Milne said.
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