Daily Mirror - Print Edition

Lankans nabbed in Mexico

01 Jun 2010 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}      

A group of Sri Lankan illegal immigrants have been arrested in Mexico while heading for the United States in “subhuman conditions” on a truck with Mexican Social Security Institute logos, the Mexican media reported.

The Sri Lankan were among a group of 60 illegal immigrants suffering from dehydration found by police packed into a trailer in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, the Latin American Herald Tribune said.

The migrants, who are from Central America, India and Sri Lanka, were traveling in “subhuman conditions” on a truck with Mexican Social Security Institute logos, the government of Chiapas, which is on the border with Guatemala, said.

The illegal immigrants were found during an X-ray inspection at a checkpoint in the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas.

The truck driver, a Mexican citizen, was turned over to federal prosecutors, Chiapas state officials said, adding that the vehicle was stolen in Mexico City in February.

The migrants – 45 men and 15 women – were treated for dehydration by doctors.

The group, made up of 30 Salvadorans, 15 Guatemalans, five Hondurans, seven Sri Lankans and three Indians, was headed for the United States, the report said.