Mexico, US bust human trafficking network

Mexico City, Feb 27 (IANS/EFE) The Mexican Attorney General's Office and US immigration authorities have busted a network that smuggled Latin Americans into the US, arresting 42 people.

The US embassy in Mexico Thursday said that the 42 people arrested were charged with human trafficking, rape of a minor, sexually abusing migrants, illegal deprivation of freedom and other crimes.

The network was busted due to cooperation between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Mexican AG's Office and during the course of the investigation, authorities were able to clear up the circumstances surrounding the death of an Ecuadorian girl March 11, 2014, the embassy said.

The investigation, US authorities added, led to locating and arresting the main leader of the organisation and accomplices who participated directly in transporting and sheltering migrants from Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico.

Others in the network were tasked with operating its financial structure and they also participated in trafficking, physically assaulting and sexually abusing migrant women and girls.

The network found victims and collected illicit fees from migrants in Ecuador, various cities in Central America, Mexico and the US.