21 Police Arrested for Kidnapping, Extortion of Migrants in Chiapas State Tristan Clavel - InSight Crime
go to original October 17, 2016

Migrants face a tough road north (Majo Siscar)

Nearly two dozen municipal police officers were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and extortion of migrants in Mexico's Chiapas state, highlighting the rise of police violence against migrants along this key transit route.

A total of 21 municipal police officers in the town of Chiapa de Corzo were arrested for allegedly attempting to extort 19 undocumented migrants on October 11. According to El Universal, the accused intercepted a bus carrying migrants - including seven minors whose ages ranged from two to fourteen years - and proceeded to transfer the victims to the police station where they were subsequently held.

The police officers then demanded that the victims, who came from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, give up the names and telephone numbers of family members in their countries of origin in order to demand a ransom of 3,000 Mexican pesos - equivalent to roughly $160 - for the release of the victims, according to Chiapas' Attorney General's Office.

Prosecutors say that the initial findings of the investigation suggest that the subdirector of the municipal police force ordered the detention of the migrants, implying that he may have been the leader of the extortion ring. Some news outlets have affirmed that the suspected officer is Hernán Gómez Grajales, the brother of Chiapa de Corzo's mayor, Héctor Gómez Grajales. But this has not been confirmed by the authorities; the Attorney General's Office's statement only identified the suspect as "Hernán 'N'."

The incident prompted the town mayor to publish an official statement on the local government's webpage, in which he assured that there would be zero tolerance towards corrupt officials, and that he was not linked to the extortion ring.

The 21 police officers are officially under investigation by the Attorney General's Office for express kidnapping, and could be sentenced to up to 50 years in prison should they be found guilty.

Read the rest at InSight Crime

Related: Critical Mass: Baja California's Migrant Crises Are in the Eleventh Hour (Frontera NorteSur)

Related: Mexican Authorities to Investigate Missing Honduran Immigrants (Prensa Latina)

Related: Latin America’s Desesperados (Peruvian Times)

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