Mexico: Migrant Trafficking More Profitable than Drug Trafficking - UN Official

Antonio Mazzitelli, of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Photo: Javier García

Milenio: Carolina Rivera

Translated by Mariana Silva

Since it has not yet been classified as a crime, the smuggling of migrants has increased in the last years. The lack of classification of this practice as a crime has resulted in its being a more profitable business than drug trafficking, according to Antonio Mazzitelli, a representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

In an interview with Milenio, he stated that this phenomena happens because migrant smuggling has low economic risk compared to drug trafficking, in which criminal groups have considerable risk of economic loss.

"There is no economic threat and in many cases there is also low risk of being prosecuted by justice, since this practice has not been classified as a crime. The reason for this is that migrants cannot make complaints before the justice system because of their extra-legal condition," he said.

Mazzitelli stated that there has been an increase in the illegal flow of "non-Latino" migrants (i.e., from Africa and Asia) into Latin American countries and from Mexico to the United States. The cause of this flow is the flexibility in migration policies that all of these countries have. The representative explained that 

"criminal organizations have realized just how profitable these flows are; therefore, they mutate from drug trafficking into territorial-based organizations that control the flow of goods and people that go through their territory, and they get involved in migrant smuggling in more violent ways."

He stated that these criminal organizations take advantage of the "invisibility" of these migrants, since they charge them before the trip begins and hence do not have to worry about them arriving at their destination.

Mazzieti added that the presence of these vulnerable groups opens the door to human trafficking, a crime that involves human exploitation for sexual or labor purposes. He acknowledged the progress made in Mexico by creation of a new migration law, but he also emphasized the importance of fighting against migrant trafficking and violation of migrants' rights.

Nonetheless, he explained that an important part of the support of migrants involves the acknowledgement and acceptance not only of their rights, but also of their duties. Spanish original