Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo — A complaint made by Conagua against a land owner for illegal water wells has lead to the arrest of 39 illegal Chinese residents. In an unusual twist, authorities investigating the Conagua well complaint found 148 Chinese nationals living on the land of which 39 were illegal residents.
On Tuesday, the 39 illegal foreigners were handed over to the National Migration Institute (INM) after a legal search of the property Monday night. In a statement, the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR), through its Federal Prosecutor’s Office in the State of Hidalgo, carried out a search for violation of the General Law of National Assets.
The search was made after a legal complaint was filed by state-owned Conagua for the illegal drilling of water wells. The FGR said their search was made “in the modality of whoever exploits, uses or takes advantage of an asset that belongs to the Nation and located undocumented foreigners.”
The agent of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) initiated an investigation due to a complaint by the legal representative of CONAGUA in which the existence of two water wells that were exploited by a foreign company was reported.
Due to these events, a search warrant was requested and authorized.
Subsequently, the MPF, accompanied by elements of the Federal Ministerial Police (PFM) and the Coordination of Expert Services of the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC), carried out the judicial procedure on a property located off a highway near Emiliano Zapata in the state of Hidalgo.
“At the site, a tractor-trailer, a trailer platform, truck, a water vehicle, a pick-up truck, two drilling machines attached to a platform, two water wells 300 meters deep and a property of approximately 763,000 square meters were seized.
“Likewise, 148 foreign people of Chinese nationality were located who worked as workers for said company, of which 39 did not have the necessary documentation to remain in the country,” the FGR reported.
“The property, vehicles and objects of crime were under the protection of the Federal authority while the respective investigations continue. The foreigners were made available to the National Migration Institute (INM).”
