The Mexican military stopped three tractor-trailers heading for the U.S.-Mexico border carrying over 650 migrants, including nearly 200 children traveling without their parents, Thursday evening.
It happened at a checkpoint known as Oyama along the 53 kilometer mark on the highway from Ciudad Victoria to Monterrey about 8 p.m. Thursday, according to a news release from the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Three tractor-trailers with six long refrigerated containers were stopped at the checkpoint. National Guard members and the state police transferred the migrants and trailers to the Secretary of Public Safety headquarters in Ciudad Victoria. Four people were detained as part of the investigation.
According to preliminary information, the migrants came up through Puebla and were heading to Monterrey.
Mexico’s National Migration Institute and the Attorney General’s Office took custody of the migrants and began processing them.
Photos shared by the state showed the migrants exiting the trailers and sitting in long lines on the pavement. Some received medical attention by Mexican Red Cross personnel onsite.
Of the 652 migrants, 564 migrants were from Guatemala, 39 from Honduras, 20 from El Salvador, 28 from Nicaragua and one from Belize. Of those, about 355 were minors, but 197 of them were traveling alone.
The National Migration Institute took custody of the migrants and the Tamaulipas Attorney General was tasked with processing the four detainees.
The State Coordination Group for the Construction of Peace in Tamaulipas worked closely with federal and state partners on this case.
