Human-trafficking suspect on ICE's most wanted list captured at Detroit motel

DETROIT (KABC) -- A suspected human trafficker who was on ICE's most wanted list has been captured after more than two years on the run.

Federal agents found 50-year-old Darrick Bell at an Econo-Lodge motel near Detroit.

Officers also found nearly $12,000 in cash and what they believe to be cocaine in the room.

Officials say Bell and his conspirators used drugs to coerce human trafficking victims into performing commercial sex work.

Bell also went by the aliases "Ghost" and "Tone."

Officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement say Bell was the leader of what was described as a sophisticated human trafficking and drug operation.

In January 2017, nearly 200 agents and officers were involved in a raid on another motel in Detroit, in what was described as one of the largest human trafficking operations in that city's history.

They found human trafficking victims, drugs and a gun. But they say Bell managed to escape the raid and had been on the run until now.