Mexico finds migrant smuggling ring that earned $40,000/week

MEXICO CITY – Mexican officials say they have broken up a human smuggling ring that earned around $40,000 a week helping migrants mostly from South America and India reach the United States.

The Security Ministry said Saturday that on average the group moved 25 migrants a week, receiving Ecuadoreans and Peruvians at the Mexico City airport and Indian nationals at the Cancun airport. They would then gather the migrants in safe houses in the Mexican capital before placing them on buses to the northern city of Mexicali, just south of California.

The ministry said each migrant paid between $1,500 and $2,500 for the services.

Mexico has become a major transit point for migrants from across the globe seeking to enter the U.S.