African Migrants Tortured, Hero For Ransom Found By Mexico Police

A group of African migrants were allegedly kidnapped, tortured, and held for ransom before being released, according to authorities in Mexico.

Chihuahua state police found 10 African migrants wandering along a highway south of Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, after their kidnappers received a ransom payment from the group’s families and released them.

The four Sudanese and six Moroccans were taken to a shelter housing migrants by police for further medical and psychological assistance.

“The group stated being the victims of kidnapping and torture and used to extort their families” out of money, the Chihuahua state police said in a statement issued on August 7.

The Chihuahua state police received a 911 call on Tuesday from a passerby who notified authorities of a group of people walking “erratically and in deplorable conditions” along the Juarez-Villa Ahumada Highway.

None of the migrants spoke Spanish, according to local police. However, officers were able to communicate with the group in English. All individuals found by police were men.

The group told them they were from Sudan and Morocco and had been abducted by a criminal gang.

Chihuahua state police requested assistance from first responders from the Mexican Red Cross to provide medical aid. Emergency services discovered the men were malnourished, dehydrated, and had multiple unspecified injuries on their bodies, the state police said.

State police are investigating the kidnapping, and inquiries remain ongoing.

Loren Landau, Professor of Migration and Development at the University of Oxford, told Newsweek migrants are “vulnerable” to “acute threats.”

“Organized gangs represent a threat to people’s financial and physical security. The most vulnerable members of society, including asylum seekers and migrants, are subject to the most acute threats. These include multiple forms of assault, extortion, and abuse. That would-be Migrants must often enlist the services of smugglers only heightens their vulnerability to traffickers and gangs.

“The most effective means of keeping migrants safe is to create realistic, legal pathways for movement. As long as people evade predatory police and navigate highly restrictive and coercive policies, they will remain vulnerable.

“There are multiple jurisdictional and policy issues here, only some of which relate to migration. Mexico is rife with kidnappings for the profit of its citizens and migrants. Police and security reform within Mexico would undeniably improve the safety of migrants and citizens alike.

“However, the combination of anti-narcotic and anti-migrant measures instituted by the US (often with Mexican cooperation) has made the border a more dangerous place for everyone. American efforts to enlist police and security forces in Mexico and Central America as part of their anti-migration efforts have empowered them, fostering corruption and violence and limiting access to protection. These are not particularly effective at controlling the movement of people or goods and come at great costs.”

Landau said poverty and persecution are driving African migrants to seek refuge in Mexico and the US

“Africans, like everyone else, are seeking places where they can find economic and political security. Faced with poverty, persecution, and precarity in their home countries, people are bound to consider alternatives.”

In 2023, there were a total of 463 cases of kidnapping in Mexico, according to data gathered by Statista.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) helped at least 730 victims of human trafficking, according to the department’s annual report.

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