A total of 225 migrants who remained hidden in a warehouse located in the municipality of Jilotepec, in the central State of Mexico, were found during midnight on Saturday. This was reported by the National Migration Institute (INM) this Sunday.
In a statement, the INM, dependent on the Secretariat (ministry) of the Interior, specified that there are 194 people from Guatemala. Also 14 from Honduras, nine from Nicaragua, five from Cuba, and three from El Salvador.
He added that minors were found instead but did not specify the number or the nationality.
The report explained that when answering a call, agents of the state and municipal police located the foreign adults in the aforementioned place. Which were found with backpacks and blankets, also minors. These remained overcrowded waiting to be transferred by the so-called “polleros” (people traffickers) to the northern border of Mexico.
Meanwhile, INM agents, with the support of the National Guard (GN) and the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena), helped determine the number and country of origin of the people.
Later, the INM said, the migrants took them to the offices of the immigration authority to continue with the legal investigations. In addition to providing medical care and humanitarian aid.
Authorities find 225 migrants in a warehouse in Mexico
During the discovery, two people of Mexican nationality were arrested, who were made available to the police. Attorney General of the State of Mexico. Along with three transport units they found in the hold.
Since October 2018, and despite the tightening of surveillance on Mexico’s southern border, thousands of migrants from Central and South America, but also from Cuba, Haiti and various African and Asian countries have entered Mexican territory. This with the aim of reaching the United States.
Human traffickers look for routes for foreigners and sometimes station themselves in the states of Chiapas, Tabasco and Veracruz. Also in Oaxaca, Puebla and the State of Mexico as an intermediate stop on his journey to the US.
The region is experiencing a record migratory flow to the United States, whose Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has intercepted more than 1.6 million people. All this so far in fiscal year 2022, which began last October.
In addition, Mexico received a record of more than 58,000 refugee applications in the first half of 2022, an annual increase of almost 15%, according to Comar.
