Migrants denounce wave of mass kidnappings in Chiapas

Migrants reported this Monday a wave of massive kidnappings by organized crime in Tapachula, on the border of Mexico with Guatemala, where criminals place a stamp on their arms and demand that they pay money to free them.

Miguel Mejía, a migrant from Honduras who omitted his real name for security reasons, told EFE that last weekend he was kidnapped along with a group of people from Central America, Peru, Ecuador and other countries who arrived in Tapachula.

He and other victims, who also hid their real identities, They pointed out that criminal groups now monitor migrants on motorcycles and in vans with long weapons to intimidate them and take them to unknown places, where they keep them locked up.

“When we tried to evade and get out of there, they said that we had to join the rest of the group or, if not, we had to follow them, you couldn’t go back,” he narrated.

They took about 1,500 Mexican pesos each (about $90) from these migrants, placed a stamp on them, and took videos of them after they had paid to identify the people.

“There were 15 of us on the road, but when we arrived (at the kidnapping site) there were more people, between 60 and 70. There were brown people and Venezuelans. (The criminals) take our phones, put seals on the cameras and check our bags,” he narrated.

Crime takes advantage of migrants

The situation occurs after the 77% increase in irregular migration during 2023, when the Government of Mexico detected more than 782,000 migrants in this situation.

The civil association Stop Kidnapping reported this Monday a “historic” figure of 521 victims of this crime in March, of which more than half were migrants.

Luis Rey García, director of the Center for Human Dignification (CDH), considered that every month there are hundreds of migrants kidnapped and extorted on the southern borderbut official statistics do not include them.

“It is a difficult situation for migrants, because they remain like the ham in the sandwich between a corrupt authority and the cartels, the hitmen who are always taking advantage of migrant women and children,” he said.

Roberto González, from Guatemala, was kidnapped for 24 hours with other people who were desperate and afraid because their captors were “heavily armed.”

“I didn’t know what to do, we were many people locked up and They were very strong people, armed, the truth is that I thought that was as far as it went, but God is great and here I am commenting on what has happened to all of us migrants. It is very hard to be kidnapped and one does not have the money to pay what they demand,” he said.

Ecuadorian Julia said that she was locked in a room for several hours while her captors asked them for the amount of 1,100 pesos per person, that is, about $66, including children.

“On Friday we were kidnapped around noon, when we were evading one of the checkpoints in Ciudad Hidalgo (on the border), their cars were hidden and (they said that) they charged us 20 pesos (less than 1 dollar) to take us to Tapachula and We were a group of 20 people. With the sun, already tired, we trust,” he commented.