Kidnap of Cuban immigrants prompts immigration probe in Mexico

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Mexican officials said this morning that at least 18 Cubans have reached Texas more than a week after masked gunmen hijacked a bus in southern Mexico and seized them, reports the Associated Press.

The Cubans were snatched on June 11 when their bus was hijacked by six men armed with assault rifles. The attackers forced unarmed immigration officials off the bus before fleeing with the undocumented migrants, who were being taken to a detention center.

The incident highlights the vulnerability of undocumented migrants in Mexico and has also brought into the spotlight, not for the first time, the possible involvement of Mexican immigration officials in their exploitation. The event has prompted the Mexican government to launch an investigation into its immigration personnel, reports the Houston Chronicle.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City