The Chiapas State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) and the National Migration Institute (INM) have agreed to strengthen background checks on migrants as part of efforts to combat crime.
FGE head Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca and the INM representative for Chiapas, Farah Cerdio Moisés, toured the Siglo 21 migration station in Tapachula—considered the largest migrant detention center in Latin America—on Thursday.
During the meeting, they reaffirmed the communication and coordination maintained with the Transnational Anti-Gang Center, a specialized unit operating in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
“We agreed to reinforce collaboration to ensure the safe transit of migrants, as well as to strengthen our efforts to identify foreign nationals present in Chiapas who have criminal records in their home countries,” the FGE stated in a brief release.
Tapachula Mayor Yamil Melgar Bravo also participated in the tour and meeting; Tapachula is the main city on the border with Guatemala, where an estimated 60,000 migrants are currently stranded.
Coordination between state and federal authorities has led to the recent capture of members from the Barrio 18 and MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) gangs.
Just last August, authorities arrested Roberto Ismael “N”—alias “Little Man”—a 37-year-old Salvadoran national and alleged Barrio 18 leader accused of threatening to detonate car bombs in El Salvador.
Source: jornada
