Over 100 trafficked people rescued in Mexico

Mexico City, Nov 15 (IANS/EFE) Mexican marines have rescued 103 people, including three newborns and a pregnant 12-year-old girl, who were held captive by human traffickers at a banana plantation in Mexico, officials said.

Eight suspects have been arrested and will be charged with people trafficking, the attorney general’s office said Sunday.

The rescue operation was staged at a banana plantation in Tapachula city in Chiapas state, on the border with Guatemala. The 83 men and 25 women rescued are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

The victims were found to be living under conditions of exploitation and overcrowding, the officials said.

Illegal immigrants often fall prey to gangs of robbers, police, immigration officers and Mexico’s drug cartels.

More than 1,000 Hondurans and Salvadorans have gone missing in Mexico, and their whereabouts are unknown, reports by NGOs say.

–IANS/EFE