32 Rescued Migrants Kidnapped In Mexico For Extortion: President

Mexico City, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Jan, 2024) The kidnappers of 32 migrants who were rescued in northern Mexico sought to extort money from their relatives in the United States, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday.

The migrants were abducted on Saturday while traveling by bus to the US border through Tamaulipas state, whose highways are considered among the most dangerous in Mexico due to the threat of kidnapping and extortion.

The kidnappers released the bus drivers and Mexican passengers, who reported the incident.

The abductors "decided to let them go free" when they realized authorities had been deployed as part of a search operation, Lopez Obrador said during a regular morning briefing.

"The investigation is ongoing," he added. "For now, let's celebrate that they were released alive" and "safe and sound".

Mexico's National Migration Institute said late Thursday that it would grant the migrants visas on humanitarian grounds, allowing them access to public services.

Tamaulipas governor Americo Villareal told Milenio television that nine children were among those kidnapped, including a one-year-old.

He said the majority of the rescued migrants were Venezuelans and some were Hondurans.

Earlier, authorities put the figure at 31.

Presidential spokesman Jesus Ramirez said the migrants were receiving medical care and published photos of them, including a child holding a teddy bear.

The government said earlier that, according to the driver, the bus was intercepted by five vehicles and migrants from countries including Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras and Ecuador were taken away.

The bus had left the city of Monterrey, in the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon, and was headed to Matamoros across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

Abduction by criminal gangs is one of the main dangers facing migrants crossing Mexico, along with other threats including road traffic accidents and extortion by security forces.

With migration surging, in recent weeks US border police have reported around 10,000 crossings by migrants every day.