Honduras intercepts an immigrant smuggler along with a group of Ecuadorians and Senegalese

This Monday, the Honduran authorities reported that five migrants from Ecuador and Senegal were intercepted at the border with Nicaragua, along with a human trafficker when they were allegedly moving to the southern border of Mexico.

According to the National Institute of Migration (INM), more than 161,700 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have been intercepted in Honduras so far in 2023 for entering the country illegally. The suspect was brought to justice and will be charged with the crime of “illicit trafficking in persons.”

The irregular migrants, two from Ecuador and three from Senegal, were intercepted at the border between Honduras and Nicaragua, when they were traveling in a van driven by the trafficker, who until now has not been identified by the Honduran authorities.

Until now it is known that this type of people is in charge of illegally transferring people of different nationalities, deceiving people by telling them that they will take them to the United States of America and once they make the payment for the trip to said country, they leave them abandoned.

Recently, José Cruz Noguez was sentenced to 15 years in prison for coordinating a border crossing in 2021 in which 13 immigrants died, after the van they were traveling in crashed into a truck near the border between the South of the United States. Cruz Noguez pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to transport immigrants for financial gain.

Federal judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo who had Cruz Noguez an aggravated role in this incident, which she described as tragic and heartbreaking. The Prosecutor’s Office had accused the Hispanic of coordinating the smuggling of more than 40 undocumented immigrants, after identifying him as the one in charge of recruiting the drivers, modifying two trucks to carry more people and opening a breach in the border metal fence to cross vehicles into the United States.

immigration crisis

The National Migration Service of Panama reported this month that at least 196,370 migrants have crossed the Darién Jungle, between Panama and Colombia, during the first semester of 2023. This figure represents a considerable increase, taking into account that in the same period in 2022 a figure of 49,452 people had been registered.

According to the figures, 100,514 of the immigrants who crossed the jungle between January and June were Venezuelans. They were followed by Haitians, with 33,074, Ecuadorians, with 25,105, citizens of 23 African countries, 6,420, Chileans, 4,964, and Colombians, 3,579.

With information from EFE

Keep reading:

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