Catherine Rusoff
The State Department on Tuesday announced up to $8 million in rewards to combat human smugglers operating in the Darién region, largely ungoverned between Colombia and Panama. Hundreds of thousands of migrants They cross Panama’s treacherous Darién Gap jungle every month on their way to the US southern border.
The announcement was made on the third anniversary of Joint Task Force Alpha, a federal program that aims to investigate and prosecute human smuggling in the southern border. Senior leaders from the Justice, Homeland Security and State departments met to discuss progress made over the past three years, officials said.
Authorities say JTFA’s goal is to dismantle and dismantle criminal smuggling organizations operating in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico. The task force’s accomplishments include more than 300 domestic arrests and more than 240 convictions across the U.S., according to a senior Justice Department official.
LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images
The three new rewards approved by Secretary of State Antony Blinken were part of a new Anti-Smuggling Rewards Initiative aimed at top leaders in human smuggling operations. They include up to $2 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any key leader, up to $1 million for information leading to the disruption of the finances of smuggling operations, and up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any major regional leader “involved in human smuggling in Darién, encouraging and inducing aliens to enter the United States, resulting in death,” according to the State Department.
Other initiatives discussed during Tuesday’s meeting included expanding the JTFA to combat smuggling in Colombia and Panama, as well as a legislative proposal to increase penalties for “the most prolific and dangerous human smugglers,” the Department said. of Justice in a press release.
LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images
“Today, we are redoubling our efforts to target the hub where human smuggling networks operate,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a press release, which noted that organized criminals who control the region’s route routinely target migrants, both adults and children, for violent crimes including murder, rape, robbery and extortion.
Hundreds of thousands of migrantsmany of them women and children, crossed the once impenetrable Darién jungle on foot last year, a record and previously unthinkable number, according to data from Panama. government data. The vast majority of migrants came from Venezuela, which has seen millions of its citizens flee in recent years to escape a widespread economic crisis and authoritarian regime.
–Priscilla Saldana, Camilla Schick and Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed reporting.
mae png
giga loterias
uol pro mail
pro brazilian
camisas growth
700 euro em reais
