Deadly accident uncovers migrant smuggling from Chile to Peru

The Minister of the Interior, Juan Carrasco, confirmed to the press that during the day 16 people were captured, including two Peruvian policemen and a migration official.

The investigation, carried out jointly by the Peruvian and Chilean police, was accelerated after a bus overturned on Monday on a remote road in a Peruvian region bordering Chile. The accident left two Haitians dead and 12 others injured. The police discovered that they had entered the country illegally.

The survivors told authorities that they paid between 150 and 200 dollars to leave Chile, travel 60 kilometers through hidden roads and enter the Peruvian city of Tacna.

The police indicated that after the accident 130 Haitians were arrested, including 55 men, 50 women and 25 children.

Experts say that many Haitian migrants spread across South America try to pass through Peru on their way to Mexico to finally reach the United States. Many have left Brazil and have previously passed through Bolivia or Chile. They are victims of corrupt police and officials.

In February, more than 300 Haitians sought to enter Peru from Brazil, but were repelled by the police, in a fact reported by the AP. Several of the Haitians complained to the press that they had to pay around $ 100 to criminal groups in order to pass into Peruvian territory.

Thousands of migrants left Haiti after the earthquake that devastated the country in 2010 to Brazil and other South American countries, but the economic crisis exacerbated by the devastating consequences of the new coronavirus have caused many of them to leave the countries where they lived looking for a new destination, especially the United States.