Mexican authorities have found 343 immigrants and refugees, including 103 unaccompanied minors, in an abandoned freight truck container on the side of a highway.
Mexico’s National Immigration Institute (INM) said in its official statement that the truck was found in the hot coastal state of Veracruz Bay. The trailer is on a route frequently used by smugglers to bring people from southeastern Mexico to the United States border.
“They are in good health and it is not clear why the driver fled,” authorities said.
Most of the children are from Guatemala. Migrants who do make it to the US often pay smugglers to take their children.
Also read: 103 Children Found in Containers in Mexico
The agency said the adults were mostly from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador.
“The children will be held in custody of the Veracruz family services system, while the others will be processed to determine their legal status in Mexico,” INM said.
In the past, many people were found dead in abandoned cargo containers.
The conditions inside the container illustrate the increasing sophistication of the smugglers. The trailer has a fan and ventilation holes in the roof. The illegal immigrants inside wore color-coded wristbands, apparently to identify them as clients of smugglers from Mexico to the United States.
(Z-9)