Mexican police find 210 migrants crammed in truck

Mexican authorities discovered 210 illegal migrants hidden in a truck likely bound for the United States. Mostly from Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, but also from India, the foreign migrants were found by police at a highway checkpoint near Mexico's southern border.

According to immigration officials, the migrants were packed so tightly inside the truck that they had to stand for the entire journey. They had not eaten in 24 hours.

It was very hot and we had no water, an El Salvadorian named Loa told The Associated Press. Loa had been in the truck since Friday. He was heading to Los Angeles.

The migrants are being held at a federal police station in Chiapas, and will soon be deported. The truck driver and his assistant are being detained and will be transferred to a maximum-security prison.

A man named William said he paid $3,000 to be smuggled from Guatemala to the United States. He does not expect a refund. William was hoping to find work in the United States.

Last month, two trailers with a total of 513 migrants inside were discovered entering Mexico from neighboring Guatemala. As with Sunday's incident, most of the migrants were from Central and South America, but some hailed from as far away as Nepal, China and Japan.

An additional 219 migrants were found in January.

It is believed that 300,000 undocumented people cross Mexico's southern border each year. The United Nations estimates this brand of human smuggling to be a $6.6 billion dollar per year industry. May's 513 migrant bust was thought to be worth $3.5 million.