Mexican authorities say they seized a tractor-trailer last week carrying more than 250 U.S.-bound migrants from across the globe, including dozens of children.
The massive bust unfolded on Friday in the municipality of Chihuahua, located in Chihuahua state, some 225 miles south of the U.S. border.
The Mexican Army and agents from the National Institute of Migration (INM) pulled over a suspicious double-trailer big rig at a military security post and initiated an inspection.
Inside they found a total of 257 migrants, including at least 50 minors and a variety of Africans.
#ÚltimaHora #Comunicado
— @Defensamx (@SEDENAmx) November 10, 2024
El Ejército Mexicano y el Instituto Nacional de Migración rescatan a 257 migrantes en Chihuahua.https://t.co/ZSP7vnXuQU pic.twitter.com/gtBsMp17fQ
Mexican authorities then took them all for processing in Ciudad Juarez, which lies directly across from El Paso, TX, effectively completing their journey to the U.S. border.
“The rescued persons were taken to the I.N.M. facilities in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, in order to verify their immigration status in the country; the driver and the vehicle were handed over to the State Attorney General’s Office in that border city to determine their legal status,” Mexico’s Ministry of National Defense explained in a press release.
#chihuahua El Ejército Mexicano y el Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) rescatarom a 257 migrantes en Chihuahua.
— Antonieta Informa (@antonietainfo) November 11, 2024
🔸 Fue el 08 de noviembre 2024
🔸 Fueron trasladadas al INM en Ciudad Juárez
🔸 Eran 257 personas de diferentes nacionalidades y se revisará su estatus migratorio pic.twitter.com/HAW8XOB97d
Chihuahua Public Safety Secretary Gilberto Loya told Border Report he believes smuggling networks are “rushing” migrants and trafficking victims into the U.S. in the months remaining before Donald Trump is sworn back into the White House.
“It doesn’t happen too often in our state that (smugglers) transport people in a trailer box as if they were cargo. This is an indication of a possible acceleration on the part of organized criminal groups to transport and traffic people,” he said.
On the U.S. side of the border, Texas officials are preparing for mounting chaos, including “potential mass migration events” that could unfold amid an anticipated post-election blitz.
This article was originally published at InfoWars.com
