Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines employees suspected two female passengers of being victims of human trafficking after a fellow passenger reported their observations. A Delta airline plane is seen at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport on July 17, 2015. Getty Images

An Atlanta-area woman was suspected by Delta Air Lines staffers for being a victim of human-trafficking, according to reports. Stephanie Ung, a 26-year-old Asian American, was detained with her friend more than an hour by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as they investigated the validity of the report.

Ung was seated on a Delta flight with her friend following a trip to Cancun, Mexico, for a birthday. A fellow passenger reported the pair to a flight attendant after claiming to have observed possible indications of human trafficking.

The flight attendant alerted the aircraft's captain, who then notified local authorities.

"I just kept telling them that I wanted to go home for my family Thanksgiving dinner and that they were making me late, but they just didn't care," Ung told WXIA-TV, an NBC affiliate in Atlanta, on Tuesday. "They just laughed."

"I know human trafficking is huge within the Asian community...and that's the only reason why I could see you stopping me. That and the fact that I was in a dress....I think it's just the fact that I'm Asian, she's (Ung's friend) Asian, and we're two little girls on the plane," Ung added.

Ung took exception to officers going through her luggage, denying her from using her cellphone and being unclear as to why she was detained.

Delta Air Lines told International Business Times on Tuesday that the investigation confirmed that the women were not being trafficked, but the staffers wanted to take all precautions necessary to address the possibility.

"On a recent Delta flight from Cancun, two customers were observed by another customer to not be in possession of their passports — a possible indicator of a human trafficking event," a Delta Air Lines media representative said in a statement issued to IBT.

"Delta took the concern seriously and contacted the appropriate authorities who addressed the customers upon landing. Delta took the concern seriously and contacted the appropriate authorities who addressed the customers upon landing.

"While their investigation did show that our customers were not being trafficked, we train our crew members to remain alert, use their professional experience and practice best judgment to ensure the safety of all customers."

Henry Ung, the brother of Stephanie Ung, detailed the aftermath of his sister's apparent traumatic experience. He alleged that Stephanie Ung didn't feel comfortable leaving the house alone or wearing dresses anymore.

"My sister was READING on the airplane, and her best friend was ASLEEP," Henry Ung said Sunday on Facebook. "WHERE did anyone on the plane see any form of distress signals?! WHY was there a need for SIX security officers to escort them off the plane to be searched and harassed?! I cannot begin to fathom WHAT went through the minds of your employees.

"To forcibly try to pry through her phone, and deny her even the right to use the restroom. To detain her from coming home to her family on THANKSGIVING no less. Without so much as an apology for the traumatic damages you've caused the both of them."

Airline staffers have previously rescued individuals from being victimized by human trafficking. A flight attendant with Alaska Airlines saved a teenage girl from sex trafficking in February by leaving a note for her in a cabin bathroom, for example.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had arrested 2,000 people for human trafficking in 2016. The agency also managed to identify 400 victims.

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