Chihuahua, Chih., January 25. Around 150 migrants from Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Peru, and Chile are stranded in the capital of Chihuahua and spending the night in tents on the side of Juan Pablo II Avenue, because private security guards from Ferromex are preventing them from boarding freight trains bound for Ciudad Juárez.
The foreigners set up camp on a vacant lot near the avenue and next to an Oxxo store in the state capital, and reported that three days ago they were taken off the train by guards with firearms .
The state Secretariat of Human Development and Common Good delivered 150 blankets and 200 bottles of water to the migrants spending the night at the camp, which houses both families and adults traveling alone.
The surveillance operation at Ferromex yards has resulted in a decrease in the arrival of migrants to Ciudad Juárez, and shelters in the border city are reporting a minimum occupancy of 10 percent; this is the lowest migrant flow in the last year, according to the municipal Human RightsDepartment.
Santiago González Reyes, director of Human Rights and coordinator of the Kiki Romero municipal shelter, reported that they have the capacity to house up to 200 people, but only 20 remain, while the Diocese of Ciudad Juárez shelter has 148 migrants, although its capacity is to accommodate between 540 and 560 people.
In this context, 15 migrants, including three minors, were kidnapped in the Hacienda de las Torres neighborhood of Ciudad Juárez and released by agents from the Model Kidnapping Crime Unit of the state Attorney General's Office on Tuesday afternoon.
Among those detained were Mexican migrants from the State of Mexico, Aguascalientes, and Guanajuato, as well as foreigners from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The state prosecutor's office also arrested three suspected perpetrators of the kidnapping, seizing a handgun and two vehicles.
The three arrested men, identified as Daniel RR, Pablo CC, and Axel Gerardo AR, were placed at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Strategic Operations for the corresponding investigations.
