Mexican police saved 359 migrants from Central America stuffed in a tractor-trailer headed for the U.S. border Saturday.
The rescue happened after 3:30 a.m. local time Saturday in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, as the tractor-trailer's driver pulled up to a highway checkpoint, Mexico's National Immigration Institute (INM) wrote in a statement, according to reports.
When INM agents approached the tractor-trailer, they heard voices coming from the back, and found 359 migrants when they opened the vehicle's doors. The driver was then taken into custody by Mexican federal prosecutors.
Reports added 294 of the migrants were from Guatemala, 38 were from Nicaragua, 15 were from El Salvador, 8 were from Honduras, and 4 were from Ecuador.
Cartel-connected smugglers have increased their activities over the past year due to perceived weakness by the Biden administration on border security. Border Patrol agents detained over 1.9 million migrants who crossed the southwest U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry in 2021.