Organized crime recruits migrants through deception: Michoacán Government

MORELIA, Mich. (apro).- Following a series of arrests of alleged criminals from South American countries in this state, the Secretary General of Government, Carlos Torres Piña, acknowledged that many of these individuals have been recruited by organized crime, either forcibly or voluntarily.

In a press conference, the official revealed that the Michoacán State Attorney General's Office (FGE) conducted a comparative study in recent months on foreigners detained during that period, which determined that many of them were deceived into joining the country with the promise of help reaching the United States, while in other cases they joined voluntarily.

In some cases, Torres Piña said, the recruits are useful assets for criminal organizations operating in highly conflictive areas, such as the Tierra Caliente region, because they possess specific skills, such as the handling of different types of weapons and other military knowledge.

He commented that criminal groups have taken advantage of the vulnerable migration conditions to strengthen their operations with foreign citizens, but he rejected the notion that this situation has led certain regions of the state to a guerrilla dynamic like that experienced in countries like Colombia and others.

Therefore, the Secretary of Government urged foreigners to remain vigilant to avoid falling into the hands of organized crime, as the outcome in these cases is always imprisonment or death.

Carlos Torres indicated that, together with federal agencies and international cooperation, actions are being taken to strengthen surveillance of migration routes, with the goal of preventing the use of migrants for organized crime.

Earlier this week, nine foreigners—eight from Venezuela and one from Honduras—were arrested in the municipality of Apatzingán. They were allegedly members of a criminal cell and were in possession of nine containers for improvised explosive devices and 25 tire-puncturing stars.

This was the result of an operational deployment of elements of the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) and the Secretariat of National Defense (Defense) in the Tierra Caliente region.