Elements of the Secretary of the Navy intercepted 28 young people, 27 minors between 14 and 17 years old, and one 18 years old, who were aboard a boat on the high seas off the coast of Sinaloa, the state prosecutor’s office reported in a statement.
Although the first information indicated that a rescue had been carried out and that the young people were allegedly being kidnapped, state Civil Protection authorities ruled out that it was an activity related to human trafficking.
According to local media reports, Ángel Daniel Corrales López, in charge of Civil Protection, stated that the young people are agricultural laborers who returned to Chiapas after, during a review at the workplace in Baja California, it could not be proven that they had the authorization of their parents or legal guardians to work.
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“This is not a rescue or a kidnapping. The minors came in transit, in an operation coordinated by the authorities, solely because it was not proven that they had their parents’ consent to work,” he said.
According to the authorities, the teenagers were being transported by sea as passengers to the port of Topolobampo, in the municipality of Ahome, to be returned to their families in Chiapas.
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor’s Office updated that “the people were under the protection of the Regional Vice Prosecutor’s Office of the Northern Zone (…) in order to provide them with comprehensive care and protection.”
In addition, the public ministry indicated that “no detainees related to this incident were reported.”
With information from EFE.
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