Mexican federal authorities say they found more than 600 migrants who arrived on boats in the Veracruz region hidden in two trailers.
State officials said Wednesday that migrants told authorities they were traveling from Honduras to Argentina when they crossed a channel to a remote area of Baypeque in the state and were discovered in the two trailers.
According to Mexico’s National Migration Institute, the migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua were found on Monday. Each of the trailers was illegally loaded with 48 migrants, said state officials.
“We consider it an uncontrolled operation that does not follow the immigration law,” Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office spokesman Eduardo Almaguer said, according to the Mexican news outlet Milenio.
Authorities said that some of the migrants have been deported and 14 others have been detained.
“It is important to note that so far, so good,” Almaguer said, per Milenio. “None of these people have injuries, nor was there an epidemic.”
According to Almaguer, the migrants who were aboard the vehicles told authorities that they were traveling through Veracruz to Argentina when they were intercepted on Monday.
Migrants have traveled through Veracruz state on boats and by foot, spending months and years crossing Mexico in hopes of reaching the United States. According to State of Mexico press release, state officials say that “70 migrants were rescued in the Atlantic as of Tuesday morning and would be repatriated to their home countries.”