343 migrants found inside truck trailer on Mexico's east coast

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY (AA) – Mexican migration officers and Mexico's Criminal Investigation Agency found 343 migrants inside an abandoned truck trailer on a highway in Veracruz, eastern Mexico, on Sunday night.

According to a statement by Mexico's National Migration Institute, 103 unaccompanied minors, mostly from Guatemala, were among the migrants.

There were also 212 adults from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador, as well as 28 more migrants, who make up several families from Guatemala and El Salvador.

The unaccompanied minors and children of the parents will remain under the custody of the State's System for the Integral Development of the Family (SDIF). The adults will begin the administrative procedure to define their legal status in the national territory, said the statement.

The abandoned trailer was reported to be adequate, with vents, fans, and a second floor to transport the migrants.

The migrants wore colored wristband as a means of identification, a control practice commonly used by migrant smugglers.

Migration in Mexico continues its steadfast pace. In 2022, 118,478 people applied for asylum in Mexico following the US ratification of antimigration policies such as Title 42, which has barred millions of migrants from entering US territory.