Most of the children were from El Salvador

By Sandra Dibble | 5:49 p.m. Sept. 23, 2015

TIJUANA — At least 10 suspects were in custody Wednesday following a yearlong investigation into a human smuggling ring that brought unaccompanied minors from Central America to the United States, Mexican federal authorities said.

Most of the children were from El Salvador, and would stay in Tijuana until they could be taken across the border to join family members in the United States, according to a statement from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office, or PGR.

The investigation also involved members of the Tijuana Police Department, who early Tuesday took into custody two minors as they were about to be crossed into the United States, according to a statement from the municipal agency.

The investigation was launched in October 2014, when agents from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations contacted Tijuana police about a criminal group suspected of child smuggling, according to Alejandro Lares Valladares, the city’s public safety secretary.

Working together, investigators from the United States and Mexico were able to identify the leaders of the criminal group, and the locations where the children were kept. Though the investigation initially involved collaboration of Tijuana municipal police, it was soon expanded to include Mexican federal police, as well as investigators from a Mexican federal unit that specializes in organized crime investigations, the SEIDO.

Along with the 10 arrests, Mexican federal authorities also reported the seizure of five houses, communications equipment, vehicles and U.S. currency.

A U.S. government official confirmed Wednesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that oversees Homeland Security Investigations, participated in the investigation, but was not immediately able to provide details.

Tijuana Mayor Jorge Astiazarán Orcí told reporters on Wednesday that the investigation marked the first time that a Mexican municipal police agency has collaborated with SEIDO, the federal organized crime unit.

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