Guatemala, DHS coordinate in arrests of 10 people tied to migrant smuggling: report

Nineteen raids were conducted to take down migrant smuggling network

Published: January 28, 2022 5:20pm

Updated: January 28, 2022 5:33pm

The Department of Homeland Security and Guatemalan authorities coordinated to arrest 10 people in 19 raids in an effort to dismantle a migrant smuggling operation, according to authorities.

The raids occurred in the western Guatemala town of Comitancillo to dismantle a network of human smugglers that transported migrants from that country to Mexico, according to Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's Office, Reuters reported.

"An operation is underway," a spokesperson for the office said.

Eight men and two women have been arrested, according to a national police spokesperson.

Last year, 19 people were killed in Mexico on their journey from Guatemala. Sixteen of those killed were Guatemalans, most of them from Comitancillo.

Murder investigations related to the massacre indicated the involvement of 12 Mexican police, according to Reuters.

Guatemalan migrants travel through Mexico to enter the United States, which reported a record-high number of illegal immigrants crossing its southern border this past year.