Fake Ambulance With 28 Migrants Aboard Found in Mexico

Mexican authorities have detected many strange schemes to smuggle Central American migrants to the U.S. border, but on Saturday they said they found a new one: a fake ambulance loaded with 28 Nicaraguans, including nine unaccompanied children.

Mexico’s Interior Department said the vehicle had been painted with fake logos from a government hospital network. The vehicle was stopped in the Pacific coast state of Oaxaca.

The National Migration Institute said the driver had tried to pass himself off as a health care worker and was detained.

Migrants found in such circumstances are usually returned to their home countries, unless they are the victims of a crime.

Immigrant traffickers in Mexico general try to smuggle migrants in buses or freight trucks. The trucks are often painted with the logos of well-known companies to try to avoid scrutiny.