Mexican police have rescued a five-member family of Honduran migrants kidnapped in eastern Mexico, while travelling towards the United States, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday.
The father, mother and their three small children were abducted in the city of Coatzacoalcos on July 19, according to local media.
The kidnappers were demanding a ransom of 15,000 dollars but the kidnapped man’s father said he was only able to collect a few hundred dollars.
“Today the federal police reported to us that the family was already freed, rescued, by the authorities,’’ Ebrard said at the daily news press conference of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
He did not give further details.
It is not unusual for Central American illegal migrants heading for the U.S. to be kidnapped for ransom, but abductions of entire families are rare.
Tens of thousands of migrants cross Mexico annually in an attempt to cross into the US. Under pressure from Washington.
Mexico has deployed 25,000 troops on its northern and southern borders and along routes used by migrants over the past two months.
The number of migrants reaching the U.S. border subsequently, reduced to 87,000 in July from 144,000 in May, according to figures given by Ebrard.
