Mexican authorities rescued a group of 143 Honduran migrants, including 71 minors, who had been kidnapped in the violence-prone southern state of Veracruz, officials said on Wednesday.
The state government said the migrants were being held in Naranjos, about 350 kilometres (220 miles) from Mexico City.
A source in the local prosecutor's office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that three alleged kidnappers were arrested.
They had been asking for "up to $10,000 in ransom", the source said.
Thousands of Central Americans attempt to traverse Mexico in so-called "caravans" every year in the hope of reaching the United States to seek refuge from violence and poverty at home.
They are frequent targets for violent criminal gangs operating in Mexico, where more than 40,000 people have been officially reported missing.
Mexican authorities rescued a group of 143 Honduran migrants, including 71 minors, who had been kidnapped in the violence-prone southern state of Veracruz, officials said on Wednesday.
The state government said the migrants were being held in Naranjos, about 350 kilometres (220 miles) from Mexico City.
A source in the local prosecutor’s office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that three alleged kidnappers were arrested.
They had been asking for “up to $10,000 in ransom”, the source said.
Thousands of Central Americans attempt to traverse Mexico in so-called “caravans” every year in the hope of reaching the United States to seek refuge from violence and poverty at home.
They are frequent targets for violent criminal gangs operating in Mexico, where more than 40,000 people have been officially reported missing.
