A Mexican immigration agent and a department chief assigned to the airport in Mexico City were detained on suspicion of trafficking immigrations in June. The two allegedly were caught allowing two foreigners to enter the country through the airport. Pipino Cuevas Marquez was reportedly caught allowing the two foreigners to enter the country through the area reserved for Mexican citizens. Oscar Arias Amezcua, the department chief of the immigration agency inside the airport, allegedly was aware of the document irregularities in allowing the foreigners to enter the country illegally in this way.
The June detentions were the latest involving Mexican immigration officers at the airport. In May, officers Eduardo Mendoza Aviles and Raymundo Cuevas Rosas were detained for allowing foreigners to enter the country through the Mexico City airport with false documents. The officers were allegedly working for human trafficking networks by allowing groups of people to enter the country illegally who were heading to the United States. Under the current administration, more than 280 members of Mexico’s Migration Agency have been suspended or fired on suspicion of corruption, according to Alejandro Poire who oversees migration issues at the Secretaria de Gobernacion, which is Mexico’s equivalent of the Interior Ministry.
From the July Justice in Mexico Project’s Monthly News Report:
http://www.justiceinmexico.org/news/recent_news.php
SOURCES:
“Funcionaries federales son detenidos por trafico de indocumentados.” SDPNoticias.com.
June 17, 2009.
Gonzalez, Maria. “Acusan a agentes del INM de trafico de migrantes.” El Universal. May 21, 2009.
Mejia, Jose. “Gobernacion defiende labor de INM contra la corrupcion.” El Universal. July 2, 2009.
