The attempt to illegally enter Brazilians into the United States involves kidnapping, rape and murder cases linked to the link between agents and the Mexican mafia, according to investigations by the Federal Police.
Delegate Cristiano Campidelli claims that agents in Brazil —who make payments to make the border crossing possible— can only act with the involvement of people linked to mobsters in Mexico. Owing to these groups can turn the dream of entering the US into a nightmare and affect family members who remain in the country.
“They make payments to the mafia [mexicana]. Without the transfer of these values, the agents cannot operate, and their clients will be kidnapped, used as a mule for drug trafficking, raped,” he says. “It’s a scheme eminently linked to the mafia, the worst possible thing on Mexican soil.”
The irregular migration business is billionaire and involves several intermediaries. The person responsible for the business that promotes the trip is known as an agent, consul or smuggler; the people who work for him looking interested in migrating are the recruiters or recruiters.
The process also includes the coyotes, responsible for the crossing from Mexico to the US — made, in many cases, with heavily armed people.
Illegal migration itself is not irregular in Brazil, but promoting it in order to make a profit became a crime in 2017. The Federal Police points out that this is the third most profitable type of offense in the country, second only to trafficking in drugs and weapons. In 2021 alone, the promotion of illegal migration generated a turnover of R$ 8 billion.
“The estimate considers that, on average, each migrant paid US$ 20 thousand [R$ 112 mil] to coyotes. The forecast is that, after the pandemic, this infraction will be able to surpass the arms and drug trafficking [como crime mais rentável no Brasil]”, says Joziel Brito, head of the Police’s Office for the Repression of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants.
Governador Valadares (MG) and neighboring cities have historically concentrated the largest number of people trying to illegally migrate to the US.
A leaf he toured the region in November and found someone who works exclusively with the promotion of irregular migration. There are also those who share their activity with another profession—jet wash workers, real estate salespeople or travel agency owners. The business is discussed openly.
The report spoke with a smuggler who claims to be able to place the person in the US, mainly through the scheme known as “cai cai”. In it, the migrant, accompanied by an underage first degree relative, surrenders to the American authorities and is released to respond to the process in freedom.
Depending on the form of the trip, each person pays up to US$ 25,000 (R$ 141,000) for the crossing.
The offer usually involves contracting a debt. The agent claims that, in his scheme, the migrant pays a down payment when he is already in the US. Afterwards, it assumes installments of US$1,000 (BRL 5,600) per month until the settlement.
The scheme starts with the procedures for obtaining the documents. The person concerned is first taken to issue a passport, then receives the tickets and an initial amount of money to be taken for the trip.
That’s because the costs involve bribes, as they told the leaf the smuggler and interlocutors in the PF. There’s, for example, the so-called “down payment,” a $1,000 bribe to Mexican immigration agents — although routes into Mexico and into the US vary.
The Mexican embassy in Brazil instructed the report to seek out the National Institute of Migration. Until the publication of this article, however, there was no return.
Payment is only made in cash because, according to the version of the person promoting the trip, the “money needs to circulate”. An agent did not want to declare to the reporter how much he receives, but he said that he would not be able to justify the amount in the income tax.
People who work for him receive $1,000 commission per customer who closes the deal.
Regardless of the format of the trip —there are smugglers who accept to split the entire trip, for example—, in all cases, migrants need to give a guarantee that they will pay off the debt, signing promissory notes for future payment. There are cases of people who give real estate and cars as collateral.
In Governador Valadares it is not difficult to find characters in this business, both on the side of those offering the service and those seeking to migrate. The smuggler who spoke to the reporter said that demand from those interested in leaving the country has been intense to the point that he reports difficulties in finding seats on flights.
After a reduced flow in 2020 due to the pandemic, the number of Brazilians who tried to enter the US illegally has exploded this year. Data from the Customs and Border Protection Service (CBP, its acronym in English) indicate that there were more than 58,000 apprehensions in 2021. The growth was 534% compared to 2020, when there were 9,147.
On the streets of Governador Valadares, someone always meets an agent, a recruiter or people who have gone to the US. THE leaf visited a snack bar, on the corner of Israel Pinheiro and Barão do Rio Branco streets, known for bringing together people who do this type of business; only there were two contacts made.
The report also sought out travel agencies. The owner of one of them initially denied using the irregular migration service, claiming that he only sells the ticket to Mexico. Shortly thereafter, however, he got in touch with someone saying there was an interested customer.
Federal Police data show that 73 people have already been arrested for promoting irregular migration — despite the fact that the majority involved an attempt to enter the US, there are cases in this account of facilitating travel to other places.
In the region of Governador Valadares, the corporation has even detained politicians involved in the scheme: last year, the mayor of Piedade de Caratinga, Adolfo Bento Neto, and a former vice-mayor of Tarumirim, Heli Moura de Paula, were arrested.
“The coyote works like a pawnbroker. If the migrant says he has nothing to pay the loan, he asks if the mother has a house, a car, because she needs collateral. If there is no repayment of the debt, oranges will make threats and take these properties”, says Daniel Ottoni, PF delegate in Governador Valadares.
Another major consul arrested by the corporation in the region was Geraldo Magelo de Lima, in Tarumirim, in 2019. The police managed to prove that he sent 282 people to the US in a year and a half. Lima was appointed in a complaint by the Public Ministry as the leader of coyotes in Brazil, responsible for acquiring air tickets and controlling the embarkation and disembarkation of migrants.
He also arranged accommodation and transfers to the airport and maintained communication with intermediaries in Mexico, passing on photos of passengers. In Mexico, cronies facilitated the process, directing migrants to temporary residences until they were able to cross the border.
The PF pointed out that Lima had a profit of more than R$ 13 million from November 2017 to July 2019. Vehicles that were in his possession were seized — supposedly, they had been given as payment for the trips.
Lima charged from US$ 20,000 to US$ 22,000 (R$ 124 thousand) for each irregular migrant. If the trip was via the “cai cai” system, the price was reduced to US$ 12 thousand (R$ 68 thousand). As the process involves minor victims and there is a series of information related to the finances of the defendants and victims, it is processed in secrecy at the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region.
The Federal Police is already aware that criminal organizations in Minas Gerais have sought to migrate to other units of the federation, such as Rondônia and Espírito Santo.
Generally, those involved in these schemes are responsible for promoting illegal migration and for sending children and adolescents abroad in order to make a profit (when minors are involved). Crimes of criminal association and misrepresentation may also be included.
Due to the increase in this crime, the Federal Police created this year the Bemig (Base for Combating the Promotion of Illegal Migration and Related Crimes) in Governador Valadares. Joziel Brito says that one of the focuses is to work to decapitalize those involved.
He said the police have been investing in technology, with data crossing, to rely less on victims’ statements. This is because both in human trafficking and in irregular migration, people are vulnerable and cannot be a good source of information.
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