HomeNewsAnalysisHuman Trafficking Scourge Draws Attention of Mexico Government
ANALYSIS

Human Trafficking Scourge Draws Attention of Mexico Government

HUMAN TRAFFICKING / 12 SEP 2011 BY PATRICK CORCORAN EN

A Mexican judge handed out lengthy prison sentences to a couple at the head of a human trafficking network that sexually exploited women and minors, signaling greater attention to a crime that is increasingly common in Mexico.

As El Universal reports, Emilio and Maria Rugeiro Saucedo were each given prison terms of 37 years after being found guilty of running a human trafficking ring that sexually exploited women and minors in Mexico and the U.S. One of the couple’s sons is in custody in the U.S. for related charges, while another son is wanted by Mexican authorities. An unrelated member of the same gang was given a sentence of 28 years.

According to authorities, the couple’s sons lured young women from all over Mexico to come to the central state of Tlaxcala, at which point the victims were sent to Atlanta. While in the U.S., the women were obligated to perform up to 50 sex acts on a daily basis, the Mexican government says.

Traditionally, human trafficking in Mexico has been controlled by small, independent networks like that of the Rugeiro Saucedo family. However, as with many criminal activities in the country, the industry has increasingly come under the influence of organized crime groups in recent years. A report from the Washington Post named the Zetas as a group that is particularly involved in human trafficking, which fits with its reputation as one of the gangs with the most diverse set of revenue streams.

This industry shift has also been aided by the drug gangs' greater control over the smuggling of illegal migrants seeking passage into the U.S., an activity that has a great deal of overlap with human trafficking. Because of Mexico’s long border with the U.S., its location between migrant-producing nations of Central America, and its own migratory pressure, the human smuggling network has exploded over the previous decade. According to the UN, the revenues of the Mexican "polleros," as the illegal migrant guides are euphemistically known, are worth $6.6 billion annually.

Furthermore, greater enforcement efforts in the U.S. have also required greater sophistication from the smuggling gangs than in the past, when polleros were largely independent operators. This has also encouraged the incursion of organized crime groups, whose transnational networks and ability to co-opt government officials in Mexico gives them a significant competitive advantage over independent operators.

For the organized crime groups, bringing an existing pollero network under its umbrella allows them to increase revenues and expand their territorial control without redirecting an enormous amount of resources. Alternative sources of income are increasingly important as crackdowns from the Colombian and the Mexican governments have threatened the viability of many existing drug trafficking networks.

Human trafficking is often linked to sexual exploitation, but the crime goes well beyond that aspect. According to statistics released by the State Department earlier this year, 60 percent of the victims of human trafficking in Mexico are men, often Central Americans forced to work in southern Mexico. However, the child sex trade is a significant problem in regions with flows of international visitors, such as tourist centers like Acapulco and Cancun, as well as border towns like Juarez and Tijuana.

The State Department report also indicated that Mexican drug gangs are becoming more heavily involved in the trade.

Mexican officials have begun to place a greater emphasis on combating human trafficking in recent years, passing a federal anti-trafficking law in 2007. Furthermore, new Attorney General Marisela Morales has highlighted the crime as one of her priorities in her five months on the job, and she now has two separate divisions specializing in human trafficking prosecutions.

The number of human trafficking cases registered by the government in 2010 came out at the relatively low number of 259, according to the State Department, although many instances of the crime are not reported -- the true number is certainly much higher.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COLOMBIA / 26 OCT 2021

Two top police commanders in Colombia and Mexico have recently admitted to filtering sensitive information to drug traffickers while working…

JALISCO CARTEL / 3 SEP 2021

Criminal groups in Mexico are posting in public lists of police they plan to kill, and the message often comes…

DISPLACEMENT / 11 MAY 2022

Mexico's produce industry has taken another hit from cartel violence, as tens of millions of dollars worth of peaches are…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…