Over 100 Central American migrants detained in Mexico

Over 100 Central American migrants detained in Mexico

SAN DIEGO, May 1, 2018 (Xinhua) -- American policemen guard near the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, in San Diego, the United States, April 30, 2018. Hundreds of Central American migrants arrived in Mexican border city Tijuana making a mass request for US asylum.(Xinhua/Huang Heng/IANS)

Mexico City, June 27 (IANS) Over 100 unauthorized Central American migrants were detained in Mexico's Veracruz state, authorities said.

During an inspection of a tractor-trailer in the municipality of Tierra Blanca, officials found 86 adults and children loaded in the back of the vehicle, the Ministry of Safety and Civil Protection said on Wednesday.

The migrants, from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, were crammed into the back of the truck, and the driver was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, the Ministry said.

In the second operation, federal police and agents found 15 Central Americans, including nine minors, in a passenger bus along a highway in the municipality of Tantoyuca, reports Xinhua news agency.

In the past two weeks, the Mexican government increased efforts to stop the flow of illegal migrants crossing Mexico to the US. The flow of migrants without proper documentations grew to its highest level in more than a decade.

Mexican officials said the recent deployment of thousands of police and soldiers aims to counteract the operations of traffickers, who generally use tractor-trailers and cargo trucks to transport migrants to the border.

The actions are part of an effort to implement an agreement reached by Mexico and the US on June 7, following an increase of Central American migrants who cross into Mexico through the porous border with Guatemala.

The agreement came after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on all imported Mexican goods on grounds that Mexico did not do enough to stop the flow of migrants.

--IANS

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