SWEETWATER, Tenn. — A routine traffic stop on Interstate 75 late Wednesday netted the Monroe County Sheriff’s department a vanload of suspected illegal aliens, authorities said.

Monroe County drug interdiction officer B.J. Johnson said in a police report that he stopped a large Ford window van near mile marker 60 on suspicion of driving under the influence.

In a news release, Monroe County Detective Jennifer Bledsoe said neither the driver nor passenger of the van possessed a legal driver’s license.

Then Officer Johnson discovered 15 Hispanic people riding in the back of the van, none with valid identification cards, she said.

She said Officer Johnson called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Knoxville, who sent three officers within about 20 minutes to take all 17 people into custody.

“B.J. compliments the ICE agents on their responding to the scene,” Detective Bledsoe said. She said no county charges were filed and that the arrest was not a part of any federal or local investigation.

Some of the people in the van told authorities they were traveling to different places, including Tennessee, Georgia, New Jersey, Connecticut and Boston, according to Detective Bledsoe.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said Friday afternoon that no other information was available on the case.

Deputy Johnson and his dog, Rondo, are well known in Southeast Tennessee for their work as an interdiction team combating drug trafficking.

The pair has worked for the Rhea and McMinn County sheriff’s departments. They went to Iraq and worked in security before joining the Monroe County Department.