Bogotá. At least 28 foreigners of different nationalities, including a minor, who were seeking to migrate illegally to the United States, were rescued on a beach in southwestern Colombia, a senior officer of the South American country’s Navy reported on Saturday.
Among the citizens, who were in a community in the Urabá Natural Park, in the Pacific region of Colombia, were 20 citizens from India, three from China, including a minor aged 10; two from Bangladesh, two Venezuelans and one from South Africa, said Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry, Johann Guzmán.
In a video sent to the press, the commander indicated that the foreigners had arrived two weeks ago at the tourist pier in Buenaventura, 147 kilometers southwest of the capital, and were then transferred to Chucheros beach, from which point they would continue their route to North America.
He said the foreigners paid $1,000 to suspected human traffickers, but he did not report any arrests. Some of the migrants tried to flee after being found, he added.
Images released by the Colombian Navy show the foreigners being found in an area with extensive vegetation.
According to the Colombian Navy, 61 other irregular migrants have been rescued in recent days in coastal areas of the Colombian Pacific and Caribbean.
In December, Colombian authorities reported the dismantling of a migrant trafficking network that transported migrants by irregular routes to Darien, on the border with Panama, or by sea to a Caribbean island and from there to Central America. They said that among the alleged members were members of the Navy who, for a payment of $2,500, failed to report the boats detected by the surveillance system.
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– 2024-08-31 12:52:42
