The National Police rescued 126 Venezuelan migrants in Nariño who were in the power of a human trafficking network. According to the Noticias Caracol report, seven people were captured as a result of these events and will be prosecuted for the crimes of human trafficking, conspiracy to commit a crime, illegal possession of weapons and falsification of public documents.
La Sijin received information about one of the leaders of the ‘Los coyotes’ gang, in the Rumichaca neighborhood, in Ipiales. There, the authorities found a big surprise when they arrived at the scene.
More than 100 Venezuelan migrants were held in the illegal parking lot there, including children and pregnant women. The criminals deceived these people and then asked them for large sums of money in exchange for, supposedly, providing them with transportation to the border and lodging in the municipality.
“The raided properties were used as temporary accommodation for migrants. Irregular parking and boarding of passengers,” added Colonel Darío Daniel Montenegro, commander of the Nariño Police.
Among those captured is alias ‘Tasmania’, leader of the ‘Los Coyotes’ gang and organizer of these criminal acts in the department of Nariño. This man also posed as a member of the ‘Aragua Train’, which generated more fear among migrants who arrived in Colombia in search of the American dream or to improve their quality of life after leaving Venezuela.
According to the Police, they also found 22 million pesos and more than 6,000 dollars in cash on the seven captured, the product of the “packages” that migrants paid to reach the United States.
On the other hand, the United States Government will reinforce its strategy against human trafficking on the continent, especially in the El Darién gap on the border between Colombia and Panama. For this, the US authorities offered a million-dollar reward to find leaders of the Gulf Clan who are also behind human trafficking, since this illegal group received nearly 68 million dollars for this illegal activity.
