Spike in Asia, Africa migrants turns Amazon jungle outpost into crossroads
- Interpol’s crackdown, which uncovered immigrants from 69 countries, shows how the migration corridor to the US has become the target of global crime groups
- The operation also offers a look at Brazil’s role as a major migration hub, with migrants crisscrossing the country to head to the United States or Europe
A recent crackdown on migrant smuggling and human trafficking throughout the Americas turned up migrants from 69 countries, an indicator of the steep growth in Asians and Africans who are crossing oceans and continents to reach the United States.
Coordinated by the international police organisation Interpol, the fifth annual Operation Turquesa united immigration enforcement officers from throughout the Americas from November 27 to December 1 in an attempt to dismantle international crime syndicates.
Among the victories officials claimed were stopping a Portuguese national who was buying newborn babies from impoverished Brazilian women for sale in Europe, arresting three suspects linked to the notorious Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, and freezing US$286,000 worth of assets belonging to a ring that recruited Brazilians to a cyber fraud centre in Cambodia.
In its fifth annual Operation Turquesa, Interpol brought together law enforcement from 31 countries in the Americas, including Cuba for the first time, plus France and Spain.
02:16
US human trafficking report singles out China and Russia, as Beijing hits back
Together they netted 257 arrests, rescued 163 suspected victims of human trafficking and detected nearly 12,000 undocumented immigrants from 69 countries, Interpol said.