Police rescue Indian workers exploited near U.S. Mexican border

EFE, Sunday 14 November 1999

Tijuana, Nov 12 (EFE).- Baja California police rescued 60 indigenous Mixtec workers, among them 15 minors and two pregnant women, who were forced to work in a Mexican company located in the north of Mexico, near the U.S. border, government spokesmen said Friday.

The Mixtec Indians were led from Oaxaca, in southern Mexico, to Tijuana under false pretenses and, once in Tijuana, were forced to work at a shop that made clothes for golfers.

The police arrested an alleged coyote (trafficker) and is investigating others allegedly involved in this crime, quite common along the border area. The Mixtec Indians explained they were taken to Tijuana with the promise that their relocation costs would be covered along with food and lodging, and if they wished to make more money, their entry into the United States would be facilitated.

The Mixtecs were living in an overcrowded car garage and had not eaten for three days. The person who had contracted their services threatened to jail anyone who tried to leave.

A neighbor's call to local police informed authorities of situation and made the rescue possible.

Agencia EFE S.A.