CANCUN, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) — A group of thirteen Chinese nationals have been rescued from an illegal human trafficking operation in southeastern Mexico, officials said on Wednesday.
The trapped foreigners were discovered late Monday night when police officers carrying out routine patrols in the 231 Region of the popular touristic beach city of Cancun, located in the state of Quintana Roo on the Riviera Maya, noticed people crying out for help from a residential house.
As the officers stopped, the cries became louder and police noticed the group of people, who had been without food or water for an unknown period of time. A rescue operation was ordered and carried out during the early hours of Tuesday.
Authorities found a group of imprisoned Chinese nationals in possession of fake immigration documents in order to enter Mexico. According to initial reports, police said they were smuggled into Mexico where a group of human traffickers promised them to smuggle them into the United States, where another group would help them settle in.
However, police said the gang of traffickers abandoned the group of Chinese nationals when federal investigations closed in on their illegal operation. Mexico’s National Migration Institute’s local delegation confirmed that the thirteen Chinese nationals – eleven men and two women – were taken to their station located at Cancun’s International Airport, where their legal status is being determined.
