MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government said Saturday it discovered at least eight Colombians were missing in the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco.
The governor of Tabasco, Carlos Manuel Merino, wrote on his social media accounts that the women had been found, were in good physical condition and were transferred to the prosecutor’s office. It was unclear whether they would be considered victims of the crime and, as such, would be allowed to remain in Mexico.
The women were apparently working as escorts for a gang that retained their passports, and were sent to an event in the Tabasco city of Cardenas but did not return.
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Colombia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Saturday saying its consulate in Cancun had filed a report on the disappearance on Friday, asking the Tabasco government for help locating the eight women.
The ministry said the eight were possible victims of human trafficking. However, Colombian Interior Minister Luis Fernando Velasco and Mexican sources said there were nine women missing. Gov. Merino did not specify how many had been found.
Juan Carlos Castillejo, spokesman for the state of Tabasco, indicated that a missing user filed a report on Friday, a week after the reported disappearances.
According to Imagen Television, which first reported the story, the disappearances were first reported by other women working in the same conditions in Tabasco.
One said the missing women were being held somewhere because of “problems between the bosses,” referring to the gang, and that perhaps they had simply been beaten.
Human traffickers cheat women to travel to a foreign country and then withhold their passports to force them to act as sex painters.
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