London
13 °C
Manchester
Glasgow
Dublin
Belfast
12 °C
Washington
Denver
17 °C
Atlanta
21 °C
Dallas
Houston Texas
New Orleans
El Paso
Phoenix
Los Angeles
21 °C
10 °C
12 °C
17 °C
12 °C
Guatemala dismantles migrant trafficking ring / Photo: JOHAN ORDÓÑEZ - AFP
NYSE - LSE
Guatemala dismantles migrant trafficking ring
Guatemalan authorities on Tuesday dismantled a criminal network, with police among its ranks, responsible for smuggling migrants to the United States, the government said.
Thirty-six people, including 23 active and two retired police officers, were arrested in the operation that involved 34 raids in the capital and other cities, according to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez.
The ring "used police officers by bribing them to guarantee the passage of people," he said in a message on X.
The US embassy in Guatemala said the operation dismantled a network that "exploited nearly 10,000 migrants."
It also resulted in the seizing of illicit funds, electronic devices and firearms, the mission said on X.
Central America serves as a corridor for migrants from different parts of the world seeking to reach the United States.
Prosecutor Marvin Orellana said the network had moved migrants from Russia, China, Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Vietnam, among other countries.
Jimenez said the operation was part of a strategy by President Bernardo Arevalo's government "not to criminalize migrants, but to pursue and dismantle human trafficking structures."
(Y.Harris--TAG)
