Sonora state authorities managed to locate and free the 10 Colombian migrants who had been kidnapped in the northwestern state of Mexico, when they were about to cross into Arizona, United States.
The kidnapping of the Colombians occurred on May 2, in Sonora, when they were traveling to the United States to request asylum.
After his disappearance, security and ministerial agencies from Sonora began a search operation in the region, on the border with the United States, after the Colombian Consulate and the organization 1800migrante.com denounced the kidnapping at the request of one of the relatives of the 10 Colombians.
“This Friday, the ten migrants of Colombian nationality who had been reported missing, in San Luis Río Colorado, by their relatives, through the Colombian Consulate in Mexico, were located alive.” indicated the Government of Sonora through a message on social networks.
According to the Sonora Prosecutor’s Office, the Colombian migrants were located “after an intense operation in different parts of the region,” in which police forces, agents of the Sonora State Prosecutor’s Office and the Specialized Crime Prosecutor’s Office participated. Organized and National Anti-Kidnapping Commission.
“The 7 men and three women are in good health and receive care at the Comprehensive Justice Center, where they receive support and information about their situation,” indicated the Prosecutor’s Office.
According to William Murillo, director of the organization 1800migrante.com, the captors contacted the relatives of the kidnapped and demanded $20,000 to release them. So far, the authorities have not reported any detainees and it is not clear if the relatives paid the ransom to free the migrants.
According to the reports, the victims were traveling in a commercial passenger bus on the Sonoyta-San Luis Río Colorado highway, and were kidnapped after the bus crossed a Mexican Army checkpoint.
“They got off after a military checkpoint before entering San Luis Río Colorado. My father and the rest of my family, 10 in total, told us that the bus was full of foreigners.” denounced Christian Cortés, son of one of the kidnapped.
Cortés denounced that he tried to request help from different telephone numbers of the Colombian Consulate in New York, and from the Mexican authorities directly, but received no response.
He also stated that he called to request help from the National Guard, the Mexican 911, the Beta group, for the protection of migrants, and the Sonoyta Police, who asked him to contact the early attention center, “but nobody wanted to help,” causing greater despair in the family.
It should be noted that last week, the authorities of Sonora and the Government of Mexico found 63 migrants in the same region, 43 of them from Ecuador.