Mexican police free 92 migrants held near U.S. border

Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:31pm EDT

Mexican police free 92 migrants held near U.S. border

MEXICO CITY

(Reuters) - Mexican police freed 92 migrants from a safe house in the city of Reynosa on Mexico's northeastern border with the United States, the government said on Monday.

Federal police arrested three suspected gang members during the raid on the building where the migrants, hailing from Cuba, Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, were being held, the National Security Commission said in a statement.

The three suspects detained were linked to at least 96 kidnappings, the commission said.

According to the statement, the raid took place on Friday, a week after Reynosa was hit by gunfights and burning vehicles blocking roads during the capture of a local drug gang boss.

Sitting opposite the Texan city of McAllen, Reynosa has been racked by violence over the past year. It is an important way-station for migrants trying to enter the United States illegally.

Record apprehensions on the U.S. border of unaccompanied minors from violent, impoverished parts of Central America sparked a political crisis in the United States last year, and Mexico has stepped up efforts to stem the flow.

Six of the 92 migrants freed were minors. The foreign nationals among them were turned over to Mexico's National Institute for Migration so they could receive consular assistance and be returned to their countries of origin, the government said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0NJ02Q20150428