The Guatemalan Police arrested two local citizens who were transporting 80 undocumented migrants in a truck, mostly from Cuba, who were trying to reach Mexico and then cross into the United States, the institution reported this Saturday.
The procedure took place on Friday afternoon on a highway in the municipality of Coatepeque, near the border with Mexico in southwestern Guatemala, Edwin Monroy, spokesman for the National Civil Police, told reporters.
The detainees, identified as the brothers César and Alberto Ruso, 30 and 28 years old, respectively, will be charged with the crime of human trafficking or “coyotaje” as this practice is known in the country, the official explained.
In the truck, with a wooden van, the two Guatemalans “carried 39 men, 30 women and 11 children” mostly Cuban citizens, two from Ecuador, one from Mauritania and another from Burkina Faso, he added.
“The National Civil Police, seeing the inhumane conditions [en las que eran transportados] He immediately provided them with humanitarian assistance, which was joined by residents of the sector,” added Monroy.
The group of migrants was later transferred at night to a shelter of the Guatemalan Migration Institute.
Guatemala, in addition to being the country of origin for migrants seeking to enter the United States without documents, is also a transit corridor for thousands of citizens of other nationalities who try to reach US territory.
