Mexican Authorities Rescue 123 Latin American Migrants Trapped In Trailer

Mexico's immigration agency revealed Thursday that 123 Central and South American migrants, including 34 children, were rescued from a locked trailer Wednesday.

As per the authorities, the migrants were found in Matehuala, a city located in San Luis Potosi. The migrants were rescued after a resident of the area heard them crying out for help, AP News reported.

Mexico's National Immigration Institute disclosed that most of the migrants were Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador nationals. Four of them were from Ecuador and only one belonged to Cuba.

The immigration agency did not reveal whether the migrants' final destination was Mexico or if they were heading somewhere else. It is worth noting that most migrant groups are hoping to reach the United States for a better life.

On the same day, Ciudad Juarez police arrested three alleged human smugglers after they found 11 migrants of Guatemala nationals locked in a house. The Chihuahua state security department opened an investigation, noting that out of 11, two of them were just 16-year-old teenagers.

As the number of migrants is increasing, cases of kidnapping and extortion are also on the rise in northern Mexico, as the former end up paying the local gangs to stay safe.

Around 3,000 migrants of various nationalities blocked Mexico's main southern highways Wednesday and demanded the government to provide them with transit or exit visas so that they can reach the United States border.

Activist Irineo Mújica -- one of the organizers of the group blockade -- explained these migrants were scared of local gangs attacking them if they continued to walk toward the border.

"We know we are causing discomfort for Mexicans, and we apologize," Mújica said. "But the drug cartels are kidnapping us, killing us."

Mexico's secretary of foreign affairs, Alicia Barcena, said last month the country has witnessed a sharp increase in migrants from several South American countries, including Venezuela, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Barcena pointed out that within one month, 60,000 Venezuelan migrants, 35,000 Guatemalan migrants, and 27,000 Honduran migrants reached Mexico. The surge in migrants was witnessed after the U.S. authorities announced earlier this year that there were more legal ways to reach the country.

So far, 1.13 million migrants have reached Mexico's southern border with Guatemala while 1.75 million migrants have arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border, as per Barcena.