Mexico ( Mexican Police Rescue 61 Migrants from Traffickers )

 

MEXICO CITY – Mexican police rescued a total of 61 migrants from traffickers in several different operations along the country’s northern border with the United States, the federal security spokesman said Friday.

Some of the migrants told police they had been held for a week “in inhumane conditions,” Eduardo Sanchez said.

The captives were rescued from six different locations in the vicinity of Reynosa, Tamaulipas state, just across the border from McAllen, Texas.

The group included 27 Hondurans and 20 Salvadorans.

Rescued along with the migrants were a 2-year-old girl and eight other minors.

Four people ranging in age from 18 to 36 were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking and kidnapping, among other offenses, Sanchez said.

“Some of the people rescued said they had been abducted in different actions and places along the border strip when they tried to cross the border with the United States,” the spokesman said.

Mexico’s INM immigration service took charge of the migrants.

Hundreds of thousands of Central Americans undertake the hazardous journey across Mexico each year on their way to the United States. The trek is a dangerous one, with criminals and corrupt Mexican officials preying on the migrants.

Gangs kidnap, exploit and murder migrants, who are often targeted in extortion schemes, Mexican authorities say.