By Ruth Salazar
The governor of the state, Ricardo Gallardo Cardona, acknowledged that a network of illegal human trafficking operates on Highway 57, which he assured operates through front companies that say they are dedicated to transporting tourists, but in reality they transport migrants to the northern border. , but they are handed over to organized crime groups in places like Doctor Arroyo, Matehuala and Saltillo.
“Those responsible who were the complainants, the tourist company was the one who promoted these coyotajes, the investigations are already on them because they received payments of 60 thousand pesos to be taking undocumented people, they themselves were the ones who turned them over to crime,” he said. .
He added that both his government and that of the state of Guanajuato would have to focus their investigations on this type of company that claims to be engaged in the transport of tourism, since he stated that it would not be the only one engaged in this type of illegal activity.
“About these tour operating companies that are the ones that are deceiving people and that at the time deceived everyone by saying that they were tourists, because they did not have a record, because they were not actually tourists,” he reiterated.
He assured that from C5i2 an operation was carried out to rescue the migrants, for which aircraft flew over the area and carried out sweeps, “practically street by street, house by house”, likewise, that the rescued migrants will be transferred to Mexico City by the National Institute of Migration (INM).
Clarifies FGE figures; There were 86 and not 105 people rescued alive in Matehuala.
There were 86 and not 105, the people who were rescued alive in the operation carried out by authorities of the three government orders last weekend in the municipality of Matehuala, after the complaint of the non-localization of 23 people who were traveling in two tourist transportation vans, reported the head of the State Attorney General’s Office, José Luis Ruiz Contreras, who recognized disparity and confusion in the figures they initially provided.
Of the 86 people, 59 corresponded to migrants of Venezuelan, Honduran and Salvadoran nationalities, the rest were Mexican, all were in transit on Highway 57 towards the United States, when they were kidnapped by various criminal groups.
He confirmed that of the 23 people who were initially spoken of as part of the group of migrants who were traveling in two vans from the Grupo Eifel company, 17 were located, of which two were the drivers, one of whom died of from beatings by plagiarists.
He added that in a second group the rescue of 35 people was achieved, of which 31 correspond to migrants and four nationals, it is the group of people who were located with ships that flew over the area, whose photos taken with drones were disseminated by authorities. from the state of Guanajuato.
Later in the following hours, derived from the operation, they located nine and 11 migrants, respectively, at two different points. In these places, two people were arrested, who were placed at the disposal of a control judge and the initial hearing for the crime of illegal deprivation of liberty and linked to forced disappearance has already taken place.
At another point, the municipal police managed to rescue another 10 migrants, and finally, in the neighboring municipality of Guadalcazar, elements of the Mexican Army rescued five more people, all of them Mexican nationals, and the arrest of others was carried out right there. two people for the aforementioned crimes.
Ruiz Contreras reported that they have several lines of investigation to integrate the investigation folders together with the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), for the crimes that could have been committed due to illegal human trafficking.
“What is happening in Matehuala? Organized crime sees it as an area of opportunity to generate this type of criminal action,” he acknowledged.
They will investigate the alleged omission of the mayor of Matehuala in the case of human trafficking.
The omission of some authorities in the case of the 86 people kidnapped and rescued last weekend by a joint operation of authorities, is one of the lines of investigation that the State Attorney General’s Office will follow, reported its head José Luis Ruiz Contreras, one of them would be the mayor of Matehuala, Iván Estrada Guzmán.
“It is one of the lines of investigation, to see if there is an omission on the part of the municipal authorities, it is not ruled out, we continue it in parallel,” he explained.
He recognized that this section of Highway 57 is a red light, however, the prosecutor assured that the entity is safe, but with cases like this that he described as circumstantial, since the transit of migrants to the north of the country is a historical issue.
However, Ruiz Contreras indicated that the agency he heads is identifying that it is obviously a human trafficking network from other entities, such as Guanajuato and the State of Mexico heading to the United States, which transit through San Luis Potosí territory where they were deprived. of his freedom, “it must be a very wide net.”
Regarding the line of investigation of the two companies that could have committed crimes such as human trafficking, the prosecutor reported that it is an issue that will be addressed by the FGR, since it is a federal matter.
Reference-aristeguinoticias.com
