In Brazil, police raided properties linked to a group suspected of smuggling migrants to the United States. Immigrants crossed to neighboring countries such as Bolivia and Peru.
Brazil's Federal Police on Thursday conducted raids in six states targeting a criminal group suspected of smuggling migrants into the United States.
Police said the group was luring Asian migrants, mainly from Bangladesh and Nepal, to Sao Paulo International Airport. From there, the suspects guided them along dangerous routes into northern Brazil, where they crossed into neighboring countries, such as Bolivia and Peru, before continuing through Central America until they reached the US-Mexico border.
Police say the suspects charged migrants $10,000 each for the trip and managed a network of people — including taxi drivers, coyotes and hotel employees — who facilitated the illicit trip. The suspects also falsified migrants' documents, allowing them to enter Brazil to apply for temporary residence as refugees, according to police.
An investigation of AP In July he found migrants passing through the Amazon from Bangladesh, Vietnam and India. Many were returning to the state of Acre, on the border with Peru, as US border policies caused a wait-and-see attitude among them.
A separate investigation by the Federal Police found that migrants often purchase flights with stops at Sao Paulo International Airport, en route to other destinations, but stay in Brazil as a place from which they then begin their journey north.
In August, Brazil began imposing restrictions on the entry of some foreigners from Asia. According to the Ministry of Justice, they were required to have visas to remain in Brazil and use the country as a launching point to migrate to the United States and Canada.
The Federal Police said in a statement Thursday that seven people were detained preventively and officers executed 35 search and arrest warrants in the northern states of Acre, Amazonas, Rondonia and Roraima, as well as in Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais in the southeast. .