A Hotel Employee in Colombia Is Accused of Trafficking and Hosting Migrants, Including Cubans

The coyotes transport migrants in boats / EFE]

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2024 — A Colombian woman linked to a Cuban migrant trafficking network was sentenced this Sunday to four years and two months in prison. Gloria Milena Álvarez Quinchía will also have to pay a fine equivalent to 1,383 dollars.

According to the evidence provided by the Attorney General’s Office, Álvarez Quinchía took advantage of her work in a hotel in Medellín, Antioquia, to facilitate the lodging of irregular migrants, mainly Cubans, on their route to the Gulf of Urabá, from where they continued to Panama and then to the United States.

The Specialized Directorate against Human Rights Violations, which led the investigation, pointed out Álvarez Quinchía as the one in charge of operating the logistics to host and facilitate the land transport of irregular migrants to Capurganá, in the department of Chocó.

Coyotes charge between 150 and 350 dollars for each migrant for taking them in speedboats from Capurganá to Panama, through the Darién jungle, in search of the American dream.

Álvarez Quinchía was arrested in May 2022 along with 10 other people allegedly involved with a network of coyotes. According to official data, up to August of this year the illegal entry of 273,142 people into Colombia was recorded.

Some migrants sleep on mattresses on a street in Turbo; the photo is from June of this year / EFE

Coyotes exploit several routes for migrant trafficking. Among them is the Darién jungle, through which as of May more than 70,000 migrants had crossed on their journey to the United States.

More than 520,000 migrants crossed the Darién in 2023. Venezuelans (328,667), Ecuadorians (57,222), Haitians (46,558) and Chinese (25,344) “were the most recurrent nationalities to cross,” according to data from the Panamanian Ministry of Public Security.

Illegal trafficking is quite profitable, and in Colombian regions such as Necoclí, Turbo and Acandí, the coyotes use boats for transport. The New York Times reported that migrants pay $40 for a boat ride from Colombia to get to the rainforest.

“A guide that takes you along the dangerous route when you start walking: 170 dollars. Someone who carries your backpack in the muddy hills: 100 dollars. A plate of chicken with rice after a day of laborious climbing: 10 dollars. Special packages with everything included to make the risky effort faster and bearable (with stores, boots and other basics): 500 dollars, or more,” published The New York Times in 2023.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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