The state of Yucatán’s Attorney General’s Office announced in mid-June that it had opened an
investigation into claims made by two Costa Rican women that they were kidnapped by Mexican Immigration (INM) officers and forced into prostitution. Their report implicates several INM officers, including the Yucatán sub-delegate for the INM Alejandro Barrera Perera, and the former delegate Hernán Vega Burgos. Vega Burgos resigned his position immediately following the accusations.
Rosa María Casanova May, a Yucatecan woman arrested for presumably keeping charge of the Costa Rican women, rejected the claims against her and denied knowing the INM officials, insisting that she believed she was only housing university students. The INM officials have likewise denied any involvement in human trafficking or prostitution.
Since the allegations surfaced, the federal Attorney General’s Office has announced that it will investigate whether the two INM officials and other state officials profited from offering “regularization” to migrants entering the country both legally and illegally and later selling them into prostitution.
From the June Justice in Mexico Project’s Monthly News Report:
http://www.justiceinmexico.org/news/recent_news.php
SOURCES:
“Hay más involucrados.” Diario de Yucatán June 13, 2009.
Rodríguez, Yazmín. “Ligan a más mandos del INM con prostitución.” El Universal June 14, 2009.
Castillo García, Gustavo. “Investigará la PGR red de tráfico de mujeres.” La Jornada June 17, 2009.
