Colombian cops have pictured a 10-strong people trafficking gang called 'Without Borders' who charged migrants to help them on their journey to the US.
Investigators there dismantled a people trafficking ring that helped migrant cross from Ecuador into Colombia and then ferried them north to Panama, where they made their way into Mexico before reaching the United States border.
At least 10 members of the migrant smuggling network, know as ‘Without Borders,' were taken into custody during a series of raid in the western department of Nariño, the Attorney General's Office said Saturday.
The Attorney General's Office said among those arrested was Luis Alberto Rosero Zúñiga, who was identified as the ring leader.
Each of the suspects were charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and migrant trafficking.
The government said criminal group had been in business since May 2020, helping migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Syria, Iraq and China cross from Tulcán, Ecuador into the Nariño municipality of Ipales via de Rumichaca International Bridge.
Colombia security forces (first two agents to the left and to the right) surround 10 members of a migrant smuggling ring that was dismantled.
The group smuggled migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Syria, Iraq and China cross from Tulcán, Ecuador into the Nariño municipality of Ipales via de Rumichaca International Bridge. From there they were taken to the departments of Antioquia and Chocó and ferried to Panamá, before they continued on to Mexico and then the U.S.
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Depending on their place of origin, the migrants were charged between $250 to $300 to be smuggled into Colombia. The fee also included housing, transportation and fake immigration documents and passports.
Once in Ipales, the migrants were ferried to Necolí, Antioquia, and Acandí, Chocó.
The Attorney General's Office alleged that Zùñiga's network made a weekly average of $10,000 to $20,000 for every bus of migrants that was dispatched from Ipales to Necolí.
The smugglers charged migrants between $250 to $300 depending on their country of origin in order to be crossed illegally from Ecuador to Colombia
The smuggling ring also used tourism companies as a front for maritime trips to Acandí, charging anywhere in between $150 to $200.
From Necolí and Acandí, the migrants were smuggled into Panamá, eventually continuing their journey to the Unites States by crossing through the neighboring Central American countries before making it into Mexico and continuing north to the Mexico-Unites States border.
The 'Without Borders' migrant trafficking network in the second one in the South American region to be taken down by authorities after a joint operation by Ecuador's national police and the Interpol led to the arrest 16 Ecuadorians and gebze escort Venezuelans in the border town of Tulcán on December 3.
Known as the 'Aragua Train,' the Venezuela-based criminal organization operated out of Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Perú.
Its cell in Ecuador helped Haitian migrants cross into Colombia with the assistance of its contacts there.