Migrants found wandering in highway near the border after being tortured and held for ransom

10 migrants were taken to shelters in Mexico after police found them aimlessly wandering along a highway close to the U.S. border. They had been released by kidnappers after a ransom was paid for them.

The migrants are from Morocco and Sudan, and none of them spoke Spanish. They told police they had been abducted by a criminal organization and tortured to extort their families to pay for their release.

The Mexican Red Cross found the people malnourished, dehydrated and with multiple injuries in their bodies, said Chihuahua state police. They were taken to a shelter for further assistance while police investigates the kidnappings, according to Border Report.

Such crimes are common in the area, a heavily transited migration route. Circumstances have become more dangerous for those seeking to reach the U.S. lately as a result of a series of factors including a crackdown by the Biden administration and state governments, as well as a more challenging climatic context.

The overall number of migrants apprehended at the southern border has dropped drastically over the year, but those still seeking to make it through are increasingly relying on human smugglers. Authorities have been warning them against this, as they can be quickly abandoned if the situation gets precarious for them.

Wendi S. Lee, special operations supervisor for the Border Patrol's El Paso Sector, told Border Report that deterrence efforts are now also focusing on sponsors living in the U.S. and sending money abroad for migration purposes.

"Sponsors are the key to getting the message not to expose their loved ones to the dangers. We want to reach out to the mothers and fathers, sisters, cousins, brothers: Do not pay that smuggler to have your relative be exposed to the dangers of crossing the border," Lee said.

The sector stretching from Hudspeth County to the New Mexico-Arizona state line had recorded by late June 140 deaths so far this fiscal year, which began last October. That is almost the same amount as the entire fiscal year 2023, when 149 fatalities were recorded, but with a little over two months to go.

However, crossings continue happening, and Border Patrol has conducted 800 rescue operations in the sectors this fiscal year. One case involved people suffering dehydration in the desert, while the other saw authorities rescue nine people from the Rio Grande as they struggled in the current.

This last scenario has been increasingly common as smugglers take migrants through more perilous routes amid increased enforcement from state and federal authorities. Earlier this month, fire department officials pulled 54 people from the Rio Grande, several of them with hypothermia.

Another study showed a rising toll of serious injuries concerning migrants attempting to climb the border wall, as well as the improper care of victims. Published by a group of researchers in the journal Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open, the report They identified 597 patients from 38 different countries who were injured while crossing the San Diego area of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in 2021 and 2022.

Nevertheless, while these patients require high level care, it is common for them to not receive appropriate follow-up after their hospital discharge.