Mom paying to get son smuggled into US calls 911 as deal falls apart, Georgia cops say

A group of accused smugglers being paid to bring a teen into the U.S. tried taking the boy back when his mother didn’t have enough cash, according to Georgia authorities.

The 16-year-old was reported kidnapped in Haralson County, about 55 miles west of Atlanta, triggering an Amber Alert early Monday morning, the sheriff’s office said. He was rescued just across the state line in Alabama, police said, and deputies arrested five others in what’s being investigated as a possible human trafficking case.

The teen’s mother had given a down payment to have her son brought into the country last week, police said. Authorities haven’t said where the woman or her son are from.

She arranged to pick up her son at the Georgia Welcome Center in Haralson County, police said, but when she didn’t have enough for the final payment, the suspects took off with her child. That’s when she dialed 911.

Deputies caught up with the suspects soon after at a Welcome Center in Alabama. A pregnant woman was among those arrested and held in Alabama.

In 2019, Georgia had the 6th most reported human trafficking cases in the nation, according to data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Numbers show the overwhelming majority of trafficking victims are women and foreign nationals.

Police have released few other details about the incident but said the investigation is ongoing.

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