Mexican authorities rescued 359 Central American migrants stuffed in a tractor-trailer bound for the U.S. border.
The rescue took place Saturday shortly after 3:30 a.m. in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, when the driver of a tractor-trailer pulled up to a highway checkpoint, a statement from Mexico’s National Immigration Institute revealed.
When INM agents approached the vehicle, they heard voices coming from the rear. When authorities opened the doors, they found 359 migrants. Immigration officials claimed that the group was made up of 294 from Guatemala, 38 from Nicaragua, 15 from El Salvador, 8 from Honduras, and 4 from Ecuador.
Mexican federal prosecutors took custody of the driver.
Perceived weaknesses within the Department of Homeland Security has encouraged cartel-connected smugglers to increase their activities, leading to record-setting numbers of apprehensions under the expectation of an almost immediate release.
Over the weekend, hundreds of migrants clashed with Guatemalan authorities as they started the first migrant caravan of 2022. The goal of the caravan is to also reach the United States.
