Mexico: a vast migrant smuggling network discovered by chance

The migrants had been kidnapped while heading north to the state of Nuevo Leon, which borders the United States (illustration). AP - Fernando Llano

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In Mexico, a complaint by a car rental company reporting the disappearance of tourists and two drivers led authorities to uncover a vast migrant smuggling ring.

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The case dates back to April 4, when a rental company reported the disappearance of two of its vehicles, the two drivers who were driving them and the 23 tourists they were transporting. The vehicles are located in the north of the central state of San Luis Potosi. There, authorities found a group of 16 people whom they first confused with the missing tourists, reports the daily El Pais. It was only two days later that they discovered a hundred people, mainly of Central American origin, kidnapped by a criminal group operating in the region.

Days after a deadly fire at a migration center in Ciudad Juarez, which left 40 dead and about 450 injured, this new discovery reveals the terrible dangers facing migrants in Mexico. According to the authorities, they were heading north and the state of Nuevo Leon, bordering the United States. A country of origin and sometimes destination, Mexico is also a place of passage for many migrants who pursue the American dream, recalls our correspondent in Mexio, Gwendolina Duval. In the north, the US border is still closed, and under pressure from the United States, Mexico is tightening its controls on its territory. Last year, nearly 000,<> undocumented people were arrested by Mexican authorities.

Increasingly restrictive migration policies in the north and south are forcing migrants to take increasingly dangerous and clandestine routes. Vulnerable, they are at the mercy of authorities, gangs and cartels. Victims of extortion or human trafficking, they may also find themselves recruited by cartels. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 1,300 people died or went missing along migration routes in 2022, a record number, but largely underestimated.

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Read on on the same topics:

• Mexico
• International migration