Cancun, Q.R. — A police search of two Cancun buildings has located three minors used in labor exploitation. The three teens were lured to Quintana Roo from the state of Chiapas on promises of well paid jobs to help support their families.
Personnel from the State Attorney General’s Office, in coordination with members of National Guard and the Secretariat of Citizen Security (SSC), executed the search warrants Tuesday.
The search “resulted in the rescue of three adolescents, alleged victims of human trafficking for labor exploitation,” police said. Officers involved in the search “also arrested one person for their possible involvement in acts that may constitute the aforementioned crime.”
The searches were carried out in buildings located in Superblocks 66 and 67 of Cancun. Three boys, one 14 years old and two 15 years old, originally from San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, were rescued. Police said the area where they came from is “a place with an indigenous population living in poverty.”
According to the initial investigations, the minors were brought in under the promise of housing, food and a good salary, however, police said “they lived in deplorable conditions, working in a taco shop from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., working 15-hour shifts, which consisted of cutting meat, serving food, collecting payment and clearing away utensils, tables and chairs, until the establishment closed or the products ran out, whichever came first.”
In addition, the teenagers had to get up very early to help prepare barbecue, sauces and toppings, all for a weekly salary of 800 pesos, money they sent to their families in Chiapas. These work days made it impossible for them to study.
“Near one of the properties, the officers involved in the searches arrested Mario “N” as a possible perpetrator of acts that may constitute the crime of human trafficking for labor exploitation,” they said.
The three rescued minors were taken to the Municipal DIF (National Institute of Family and Family Development) where they are receiving medical, psychological, and nutritional care. This Social Representative will request assistance from Chiapas state authorities to locate their families and reunite them.
