Guatemala’s National Civil Police (PNC) arrested two suspected coyotes transporting 11 Cuban migrants: nine adults and two minors who were making an illegal journey through the Central American nation.
After an operation in border areas and highways of the country, the agents intercepted two vehicles in which foreigners who had irregularly entered the national territory were traveling.
Guatemalan citizens Armando Castro Quej (35) and Keyner Iván Soto Gramajo (34) were arrested in the action. Both were brought before the competent court.
“These suspected coyotes used blue and black cars, respectively, in which they transported nine adults and two children, all of Cuban nationality,” the agency said.
The police agency stressed that all those involved were assisted in accordance with the Humanitarian, Migration and Biosecurity Assistance Protocol.
“After giving them the necessary attention, they were sent to the delegation of the Guatemalan Institute for Migration in Agua Caliente, Esquipulas, Chiquimula for the relevant procedures,” explained the PNC.
The operation was carried out in the municipality of Sanarate, in the department of El Progreso.
According to the Guatemalan News Agency, the Guatemalan government, through the Interior Ministry, has stepped up operations in the border areas to stop the irregular entry of foreigners.
Guatemala has become a forced transit country for thousands of Cubans trying to reach the United States.
A source at the Guatemalan Migration Institute told Reuters that from early 2021 to March 13, Guatemala expelled 84 Cubans from its territory because they did not have visas.
He was arrested by the army and police last week 58 Cuban immigrants travel in three boats through a river bordering Honduras with the goal of reaching the United States.
The Guatemalan Migration Institute said that the transfer of immigrants by sea was “a new form of transportation in the region” and that it did not know if they intended to continue down that route to the United States or if they would make part of the journey by land.
In early March, the PNC apprehended two suspected coyotes who were out and about in a truck to 80 undocumented migrants, 76 of whom were Cuban.
The smugglers, two brothers aged 30 and 28, were transporting 80 people: 39 men, 30 women and 11 children who were going into Mexico en route to the US border.
The state agency assured that the migrants “entered the country in violation of immigration law and biosecurity regulations due to Covid-19” and that “on seeing the inhumane conditions faced by neighbors in the sector, it will provide them with immediate humanitarian assistance.” belong joined”.
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