Gunmen stormed a hotel in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi yesterday and abducted about 20 foreigners, most of them believed to be Haitians and Venezuelans, the state attorney general’s office said.
The gunmen stormed the Sol y Luna Hotel building in Matteuala, about 195 kilometers north of the state capital, San Luis Potosi, and left, taking the guest book with them, making it difficult to identify the abductees.
“We are trying to find their identities,” Arturo Garcσαa Herrera, the state attorney general, said in a statement.
Authorities have launched an investigation and are trying to rescue the abducted hotel guests, Garca added.
The announcement did not specify whether the abducted Haitians and Venezuelans were immigrants destined for the United States.
Many immigrants face great risks on their way to the United States, and there are reports of kidnappings, extortions, rapes, and even murders. Some migrants are also forced to work for drug cartels fighting to control drug trafficking routes.
In June, a human rights group reported that some 3,300 immigrants who had been trapped in Mexico since January by US border policy had been abducted, raped, trafficked or attacked.
