MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican officials say they have uncovered an industrial-scale migrant smuggling ring using tractor-trailer rigs disguised as freight deliveries for major companies.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday authorities found a tractor-trailer disguised with the logo of a major grocery store chain. But instead of groceries, it was carrying about 150 migrants.
And Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said that four or five freight trucks found in June carrying hundreds of migrants belonged to an independent trucking company. Some of those trucks bore the logos of well-known firms.
The company based in central Mexico operated trucks equipped with air-conditioning units, but didn't turn on the ventilation when carrying migrants.
That led officials to believe it was just a matter of time before migrants would die aboard the overcrowded vehicles.