Mexican authorities have confirmed that they have found 49 of the migrants who were kidnapped this week on a bus in Matehuala, northern Mexico. The abducted migrants included citizens of Venezuela, Honduras, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, and El Salvador. The migrants were taken to the National Migration Institute (INM) office in San Luis Potosí, where it was revealed that there were 23 men, 15 women, six boys, and five girls.
According to the government press conference, the Army chief detailed the different nationalities of the kidnapped migrants: seven from Venezuela, 19 from Honduras, two from Brazil, one from Cuba, 14 from Haiti, and six from El Salvador. The events occurred last Tuesday, and it was reported that there were about 50 foreigners kidnapped, according to the prosecutor’s office of San Luis Potosí and the neighboring state of Nuevo León.
This morning, authorities found another 33 people at kilometer 30 of federal highway 57 in the limits of San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León. Some of these people were walking while others were found in facilities and houses in the area. While no detainees have been made at the moment, investigations are ongoing to find those responsible for the act, and the migrants will provide useful information to identify the perpetrators of the kidnapping.
The Matehuala area has caused concern in the government due to the presence of kidnapping gangs that attack migrants on their way to the United States. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged at a press conference last Wednesday that this latest event is possibly linked to the kidnapping of 121 migrants at the beginning of April in the same region.
Sandoval declared that 650 elements, including the Army and the National Guard, are deployed to continue the operation and find other migrants or other people who may be in the same situation. This demonstrates the unprecedented migratory flow in the region, as more than 2.76 million undocumented people have been intercepted by the United States on the border with Mexico in fiscal year 2022.
