Mexican authorites rescued 108 undocumented immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, including 33 minors, who had traveled northward seeking work and were then forced to labor on a banana plantation in the Mexican state of Chiapas, reports the Mexican daily El Universal.
Among those rescued were three newborns and a pregnant twelve-year-old girl.
Eight suspects have been arrested in connection to the case, including six Mexicans, a Guatemalan and a Honduran, all of whom authorities say are tied to an international human trafficking ring. According to the Mexican government, the operation was part of a broader effort to crackdown on human trafficking in the region, which began after the massacre of 72 undocumented migrant workers by criminal elements in Tamaulipas last August.