On the 25th of this month, the disappearance of 63 people of different nationalities was announced, the same ones who had the objective of crossing the border to reach the United States, but were kidnapped in a Mexican town; the majority of Ecuadorian origin.
William Murillo Vera, from the 1800migrante foundation, shared the experience of helping to save the lives of people who seek to achieve the “American dream”, despite the risks to which they are exposed. On April 25, we experienced something terrible because the relatives of the disappeared persons were asking for information from Ecuador, Mexico, even from the United States. “The relatives told us that several people were traveling on a bus to the border city of Sonoyta in Sonora, border with Arizona, near the American border, until they were intercepted by two trucks with armed men, dressed in military uniform, who disembarked them to take them to an unknown destination”; but, fortunately, a migrant would have hidden and would later be the one who notified his relatives.
According to the activist for the rights of migrants, the drama that the countrymen lived through would be alarming due to the circumstances in which they were disappeared on this occasion. “His relatives were desperate and begged for help,” he recounted, while commenting that, despite his experience in migration issues, the news had a strong impact on them due to the number of missing migrants. “Initially they told us that there were more than 30, including men, women and children,” and they have joined the actions to help find the Ecuadorians who were from Guayaquil, Pasaje, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, among others.
Murillo Vera recalled that after drawing up a small list of the disappeared persons, they raised an international alert and then they were forced to contact the office of the Ecuadorian consulate in New York, so that they, in turn, communicate to the Mexican authorities. “With belligerence and aggressiveness, the kidnappers began to call the families asking for ransom money,” while the exchange of information and coordination between consular authorities of the two countries was being generated. “On Thursday morning the 27th, the Specialized Unit to Combat Kidnapping (UECS) of the Sonora Prosecutor’s Office carried out a joint operation in Sonoyta, in the sector of the Municipality of Plutarco Elías, Sonora street, and they were able to rescue the 63 people of different nationalities,” he said.
He highlighted the professionalism and proper use of technology that would have made it possible to locate the place of captivity in a timely manner. “The operation was impeccable because the investigation and intelligence work resulted in the exact location of a cuartería”, a place where the UECS personnel would have arrived accompanied and supported by personnel from the different operational bases of the Criminal Investigation Ministerial Agency (AMIC) and elements of the Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA), National Guard and Municipal Police of Sonoyta. “This is how a total of 50 adults and 13 minors were rescued safe and sound; 43 of them are from Ecuador, 9 from Colombia, 5 Mexicans, 4 Venezuelans, one Peruvian and one from the Dominican Republic,” reported the Sonora Prosecutor’s Office, according to the principal of the 1800migrante foundation.
“We have avoided a tragedy, because the kidnappers used weapons to guard them while they were in captivity,” Murillo Vera specified, and insisted on the delicate situation they would have faced, but thanks to the concurrence of wills things have not gotten out of control. “It had to be done with the public force, with technology, include the Prosecutor’s Office; and the Mexican Government this time complied with migrants of various nationalities”, a plan that has saved Ecuadorian compatriots, “and we feel very satisfied to continue impacting the lives of migrants.”
Finally, he called on citizens to keep in mind that “an illegal trip is dangerous”, since, although this time there have been positive results, “there are thousands of victims every day at the borders who have not run with the same luck”, for which he insisted that “traveling to the US is a very big bet in which you can lose your life.” (YO)