“This group of criminals was picking up migrants from different countries at border posts in Guatemala with El Salvador and Honduras. He then guaranteed transportation to the Mexican border,” said the deputy director of the police’s criminal investigation department.
Seven Guatemalan police officers, accused of being part of a ring to traffic migrants by road to the US, were arrested on Monday, along with about fifteen other suspects in the case, law enforcement agencies announced.
“This group of criminals was picking up migrants from different countries at border posts in Guatemala with El Salvador and Honduras. Then he guaranteed transportation to the border with Mexico,” explained Adal Rodriguez, deputy director of the police’s criminal investigation service, during a press conference.
The arrests were made as part of a wide-ranging operation, during which 69 searches were carried out in locations across the Central American country, he added.
The operation, which began following a complaint in April 2021, was supported by the US Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at the US Embassy in Guatemala, the prosecutor’s office said in a press release.
Guatemala, thousands of whose citizens try to reach the American dream every year, is also a transit country for thousands of irregular immigrants from various countries, who leave their country to escape poverty or violence.
Guatemalan authorities have stepped up checks in recent weeks due to an exponential increase in the number of migrants, mainly from Venezuela, moving towards the border with Mexico.
Dozens of Venezuelan migrants en route to Guatemala recently asked to be returned to their country after Washington announced it would now deport Venezuelans caught illegally entering the US.
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