Mexican authorities have said they found no fewer than 200 migrants in an abandoned lorry in the south-eastern state of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico.
The migrants from Guatemala and Honduras, including 20 unaccompanied minors, believed to have been heading to the U.S, were found in the abandoned lorry near the city of José Cardel, some 280km east of Mexico City.
The National Guard and Immigration Department (INM) said the trailer had been modified to hide its contents from x-ray scanning and fitted with a metal structure to create more space by adding a mezzanine.
The INM said the trailer was overcrowded and that its passengers were dehydrated and had been drugged to inhibit their basic needs.
Authorities said that the driver had probably fled.
Thousands of migrants fleeing poverty, violence and political crisis seek to reach the U.S. via Mexico.
The U.S. border protection agency recorded more than two million attempts to cross the border into the U.S. between October 2021 and October 2022.
They increasingly include migrants from Venezuela, Haiti and Cuba, alongside those from Central America. (dpa/NAN)
