Eight people were accused of smuggling hundreds of people from Mexico to the United States. Prosecutors believe the shipping methods put their lives at risk.
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On Tuesday, US authorities filed indictment against eight people who are said to have smuggled several hundred people from Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia across the border from Mexico to the United States.
The news agency writes Reuters.
Images released by the United States Department of Justice show two-by-two migrants crammed together in cramped wooden crates, a large group of migrants in the hold of a truck, and several lying on the floor of a pickup truck.
Other images show water tanks that prosecutors believe were used to smuggle people.
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– He’s gone unpunished for too long
The prosecution claims that the migrants must have been exposed to “unacceptable conditions”:
“The human trafficking organization allegedly used methods to transport migrants who put their lives at risk. They were kept in confined rooms with little ventilation, no temperature control and in conditions that put them in great danger.” . writes the Ministry of Justice in the second indictment the American channel CBS.
During a press conference in Washington on Tuesday, US officials from the Department of Justice and Homeland Security said the alleged human traffickers were only interested in profit, Reuters writes.
– They have become increasingly intertwined with cartels and there is growing evidence of abuse, exploitation and violence against migrants, said Deputy Director of Homeland Security John Tien and added:
– They went unpunished for too long.
“Head”
Most of the eight defendants are American citizens, Reuters writes and refers to court records.
In the trial, six other people are accused of collaborating with traffickers.
American prosecutors point to 31-year-old woman Erminia Serrano Piedra as the head of the operation. She is also known as the “boss lady”.
Between December 2017 and August 2021, he allegedly deposited $ 1.3 million in the bank, but only reported $ 120,000 to U.S. financial institutions, prosecutors said Tuesday.
According to the indictment, the migrants paid the smuggling group for illegally transporting them to the United States. The group also reportedly used drivers paid up to $ 2,500 per migrant to pick them up and transport them further into the country, the channel writes.
The indictment is seen as part of President Joe Biden’s initiative to crack down on human trafficking, the news agency writes.
The number of migrants attempting to cross the border from Mexico to the United States has made one strong pants after Biden took over as president.
The accusation against the eight traffickers came only a few months later 53 migrants died after being trapped in a burning wagon in San Antonio during a failed smuggling attempt. Four men, including the alleged driver, were charged with the accident.
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