Sonora: Gunmen Shoot At Vehicle Carrying Migrants; Minor Dies, 8 Injured

All the victims were of Haitian origin. The events occurred in the border area between Sonora, Mexico and Arizona, United States.

A minor died and eight migrants were wounded after they were shot by gunmen who riddled the vehicle where they were being transported by human traffickers to the Tubutama border between Sonora and Arizona, informed this Sunday the State Attorney General’s Office.

The events occurred early Sunday morning when residents of the region called the 911 emergency number, authorities activated the Code Red protocol of the ministerial and security forces to carry out an operation to rescue the victims.

Residents of the municipality of Saric, Sonora, reported that all the victims were of Haitian origin, who came to town screaming for help to the inhabitants of this community located in the Sonora desert, just 54 kilometers from the international border between Mexico and the United States.

The Sonora District Attorney’s Office confirmed in a preliminary report, that upon responding to the report, the state and federal authorities found the burned and shot vehicle in the vicinity of the municipality of Tubutama.

Experts from the Ministerial Agency of Criminal Investigation processed the crime scene, while State Police, Mexican Army and National Guard searched for the alleged perpetrators.

“The facts were reported around 01:15 hours on Sunday when the vehicle was attacked with gunfire, resulting in the death of a minor and injuries to eight people, five men and three women,” reported the Sonora Prosecutor’s Office.

The wounded and survivors were taken to the nearest IMSS-Bienestar Hospital for treatment.

“Security forces from the three levels of government – municipal, state and federal – are maintaining an operation to locate and arrest the criminal group that assaulted the migrants, using air support and ground forces,” the Prosecutor’s Office added, but so far no suspects have been reported detained.

Attacks on vans transporting undocumented people from southern Mexico, South America, Africa and Asia are very common in the Sonora desert region bordering Arizona, United States, due to the fight between gangs that dispute this lucrative illicit business.

The gangs of “polleros”, as human traffickers are known, pick up their victims in the municipality of Altar, next to the Mexico 2 Federal Highway, from where they take the road that connects from the town of Sáric to Tubutama.

This migration route is used by criminals due to the lack of vigilance and permissiveness of the authorities in Mexico, in addition to the fact that when crossing the international border into Arizona, the rugged desert terrain complicates surveillance by U.S. agencies. 

Source: Aristegui Noticias