Tegucigalpa.
The Honduran National Police on Saturday arrested two Guatemalans at the border with Guatemala for illegally transferring 16 Nicaraguans and one Honduran in a van, whose final destination was the United States.
The arrest was carried out in Corinto, a border point with Guatemala, as part of a “surveillance and control work” of officers from the National Border Police Directorate and the Police Investigation Directorate, Honduran police said in a statement.
The 32- and 36-year-old Guatemalans, whose identities have not been disclosed, were arrested for allegedly responsible for the crime of “illegal trafficking in human beings at the expense of the safety and freedom of 16 citizens of Nicaraguan descent and a Honduran citizen,” he added.
Security forces seized 8,915 quetzals ($ 1,155) and three cell phones from the prisoners, according to the official report.
The Guatemalans will “be referred to the corresponding body to continue their legal proceedings,” said the Honduran police.
The 16 Nicaraguans were taken to an office of the National Migration Institute (INM), where authorities coordinated their return to Nicaragua.
Honduran police have intensified border patrols in recent days to prevent illegal human trafficking through national territory.
In recent decades, the Central American country has become a transit point for migrants, especially Cubans and Africans, who traverse the Central American countries to reach the United States.
According to figures from the INM, around 3,000 illegal immigrants, mostly Cubans, have been detained in Honduras so far in 2021 for entering illegally, some with the intention of reaching the United States.
Foreigners are received in the four Irregular Migrant Assistance Centers (CAMI) established by the Honduran government in different parts of the country.
Immigrants also receive humanitarian care and carry out a migration process through Honduras’ comprehensive system of migrant biometric control.