The Criminal Investigation Agency and the Mexican Army arrested eight members of a network of coyotes who passed from the border city of Piedras Negras to the United States to groups of migrants and falsified documents. “We have information on the transfer of 220 migrants and at least 63 Cubans to the cities of Carrizo Springs and Eagle Pass, in Texas,” he tells 14ymedio the officer of the Civil Police of Coahuila, Santos Martínez.
Last Wednesday the first five members were arrested, commanded by a woman who said her name was Elvira. “The woman was intercepted at a safe house on the outskirts of the city, where two Hondurans were, who paid $1,000 each to go to the US in a van.”
One of the foreigners offered information to locate another safe house in the downtown area of Piedras Negras. “In the place they found 11 Hondurans who were waiting on February 16 for the arrival of a group of Cubans and Nicaraguans who would be taken to Carrizo Springs,” says Martínez.
The smugglers had five houses in which they hid the migrants and three cars for transportation around the city. The officer found indications that this network “has contact with some municipal police because they had been operating since 2018 and had not been detected.” The detainees face charges of trafficking and migrant smuggling.
“In the place they found 11 Hondurans who were waiting on February 16 for the arrival of a group of Cubans and Nicaraguans who would be taken to Carrizo Springs”
The investigations led the authorities to the Morelos neighborhood, near the Rio Grande, where this Sunday three other members of the trafficking network were arrested when they were about to take five Cubans to Eagle Pass. This operation coordinated by the military made it possible to locate another 15 migrants, eight more Cubans among them, in a house in the area.
“In the house, a list of payroll payments to local authorities and municipal police was found, which is already being investigated. The amounts indicated are in dollars and reach 20 dollars a month,” Martínez details, “in addition to immigration permits and INE credentials. false from other states, mainly from the state of Chiapas”.
The commander of Civil Protection, Francisco Contreras, contacted by 14ymedio, indicates that between November and January 2022 the authorities registered the arrival of 328 Cubans in Piedras Negras. “We have an increase in families, most of them have humanitarian visas, the problem is that they are passing through the Rio Grande. On Sunday two Cubans were detained, while 12 managed to swim to the United States.”
“We have an increase in families, most have humanitarian visas, the problem is that they are passing through the Rio Grande”
Of three surveillance operations carried out per day, now, with the support of the Army, the National Guard and Immigration, six were implemented during the course of the day and three more at dawn, this has made it possible to detain an average of 90 migrants per day. near the Rio Grande. “In 24 hours we have detained up to 720 irregular migrants between the access checkpoints to the state, some hostels and neighborhoods,” says Contreras.
Meanwhile, in the state of Quintana Roo, authorities have still not found a group of Cubans who abandoned a boat on the east coast from the insular area of Isla Mujeres, at the height of the Colegio de Bachilleres. The state police confirmed to this newspaper that the migrants “got into a truck, so the surveillance cameras are already being checked.”
Medicines, drums with a capacity of 200 liters, other smaller drums with water, canned food in bags, as well as men’s and women’s clothing of different sizes were found on the boat.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our journal. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
