This archive report was first published on 9 July 2019.
On July 7, 2019, Mexican officials made a significant discovery at a checkpoint in the central state of Zacatecas, using a large X-ray scanner to uncover 51 Central American migrants hidden in a truck.
According to government officials, the migrants were found in hidden compartments inside the truck, with some sitting and others lying down along two levels in the crowded compartments. The migrants were from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Ecuador.
Footage of the X-ray scan shows the ghost-like truck filled with the brightened silhouettes of the migrants. The migrants, including 21 minors, are now in the custody of Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM).
Government officials stated that the migrants will be returned to their home countries. The apprehension comes weeks after the appointment of former prisons chief Francisco Garduno as the new head of the INM.
Under Garduno's leadership, the immigration authority has made several high-profile captures of migrants smuggled in vehicles. The INM's former chief official left his position in mid-June amidst tensions over a deal with the United States to reduce the number of migrants trying to cross the U.S. border illegally.
As part of the deal, Mexico promised to make progress in reducing the number of migrants trying to cross the U.S. border illegally. In another video released by Mexican authorities, an official approached the cargo vehicle at night to open the door to one of the crates, revealing the migrants' distress.
The truck, the driver, and 225,000 Mexican pesos ($12,000) in cash found in the vehicle are now in police custody, and will be subject to investigation. Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard stated that the attorney general has about 11 open investigations into migrant smugglers.
Foreign Minister Ebrard emphasized the government's strategic objective to end the impunity for human traffickers, saying, "It is our strategic objective to end the impunity for human traffickers."
