Mexico City – Mexican officials said Monday they have uncovered an industrial-scale migrant smuggling ring using tractor-trailer rigs disguised as freight deliveries for major companies.
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President Andres Manuel López Obrador said authorities found a tractor-trailer disguised with the logo of Soriana, a major grocery store chain. But instead of groceries, it was carrying about 150 migrants.
In a statement Monday, Soriana wrote that “the truck detained Saturday in Veracruz state does not belong to our delivery fleet, nor is it owned by the Soriana Organization.”
“The company has filed a complaint, because it was fake, it was camouflage to transport migrants,” López Obrador said.
In June, Mexico detected five freight trucks carrying 925 migrants, almost all from Central America. Some of those trucks bore the logos of well-known firms, though it was not clear if those trucks were also fakes or had been used illegally by drivers without the companies’ knowledge.
Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said that four or five of the freight trucks found in June belonged to the same independent trucking company, based in central Mexico.
Ebrard said the company operated trucks equipped with air conditioning units, but those weren’t turned on when carrying migrants.
“The risk they are putting people in, half of them are minors,” Ebrard said. “They are locking them in trailers to cross the entire country. They leave them there for hours, they could die of asphyxia.”
It led officials to believe it was just a matter of time before migrants would die aboard the overcrowded vehicles.
“The biggest concern is that there is going to be a tragedy, that is what we don’t want,” said López Obrador.
I still remember when one of you naysayers ( the wise guy with those silly TRump screen names ) posted that the tariff threat on Mexico was a waste and we got nothing in return .
Well let’s see how much you lied .
Npr not fox had a whole report from Mexico how the border is full of national guards blocking migrants from making their way up to the USA.
He said he has never seen this level of enforcement before . And it’s only since the tarrif threat .
Now we have this report of busting smugglers . Seems clear to me that trumps Mexico policy delivered results
One must wonder, why now the discovery? How long has it been going on? Could it possibly be that this immigration problem has been going on for so long, that cartels found a more efficient business model? Just maybe, President Trump has been pointing out the obvious truth, that we have a broken immigration system that needs attention. That is, before we allow them all in with free health care, education and drivers licenses. Can’t sane minds prevail over partisanship?