More than 2,000 migrants were reportedly abducted in Mexico by Mexican drug cartels and smuggling gangs last year.

ABC News Go reported that the Mexican government confirmed the count Friday following a successful search for 10 Colombians kidnapped in northern Mexico earlier this week.

Around 2,115 migrants were freed by Mexican authorities in 2022, according to Mexico's national immigration agency. The migrants were all kidnapped by Mexican drug cartels and smuggling gangs.

Cartels and gangs charged crossing migrants fees just to cross Mexico, and some were even kidnapped for ransom. Several complaints of missing migrants prompted police to launch a probe and find numerous migrants being held without consent.

On Friday, prosecutors in the state of Sonora said they had found 10 Colombians who went missing Tuesday in the city of San Luis Rio Colorado, across the border from Arizona. Officials noted that the Colombians were found at a gasoline station in good state of health.

Last month, a reported kidnapping of about 20 people in the state of San Luis Potosi led police to launch a massive search by air and land, and they discovered not only the 20 migrants they were looking for but some 80 more migrants being held against their will by the same smuggling gang.

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Migrants Abducted in Mexico

In March, four U.S. citizens were kidnapped after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the northern Mexico border city of Matamoros, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said.

PBS News reported that the four U.S. citizens were traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. The FBI San Antonio Division Office said the vehicle came under fire after it entered Matamoros.

The agency noted that the four Americans were dragged, placed in a vehicle, and taken away from the scene by the gunmen. At the time, the agency offered a $50,000 reward for the victims' release and the suspects' arrest.

Mexican officials believe that the attack was a case of mistaken identity, as Gulf Cartel members initially thought that the American citizens were Haitian drug smugglers. Matamoros is home to warring factions of the Gulf Cartel. 

Mexican authorities eventually rescued the group in a house some 30 minutes from where the cartel members attacked them. However, two of the four American citizens died.

Mexican Drug Cartels Abducted Migrants

A 2020 report finds that criminal organizations have abducted 80% of migrants waiting for hearings in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. On the other hand, 45% have suffered violence or violation.

At the time, around 57,000 migrants are waiting for their asylum hearing date. The notorious Zetas group controlled Nuevo Laredo for years. It is now the territory of the cartel's offshoot, which is the North East Cartel.

Zetas group's rival, the Gulf Cartel, is now knocking at the gates, supported by the Jalisco Cartel, according to The Guardian. More than 100,000 people in Mexico are still missing without any explanation, CNN reported.

The Mexican defense ministry previously said that hundreds of security forces were heading to the border to ramp up the area's defense and protect the "well-being of citizens."

Mexican authorities have been accused of being slow in finding the disappeared victims, with a human rights expert saying that the government's attempt to address organized crime can also be the reason behind the disappearances.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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