Mexican authorities rescue 228 migrants from people smuggling ring

MEXICO CITY, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Mexican authorities have rescued 229 migrants and arrested six suspected people smugglers in the northern state of Tamaulipas, authorities announced on Sunday.

The Tamaulipas coordination group, made up of the army and federal and state security forces, said in a statement that the migrants were found in six safehouses, waiting to cross into the U.S.

Operations carried out on Friday and Saturday took place after an anonymous tip-off, leading to the arrest of the six suspects.

According to statements from the Central American migrants, they had paid 4,000 U.S. dollars each to be taken by truck to Matamoros and were then made to wait in the safehouses.

Of those rescued, 128 were from Guatemala, 86 from Honduras, 11 from El Salvador, 3 from Nicaragua and 1 from Mexico. They included 109 children and 120 adults, including 41 women.

The police have turned the migrants over to Mexican authorities to be processed. Enditem