By Giselle Alzate | 2024-07-25

BOGOTA -- Colombian authorities have captured eight suspected members of an organization involved in human trafficking that offered VIP plans to Chinese citizens planning to travel through Central America on their way to the United States.

The arrests occurred in three locations within the department of Antioquia, near the border with Panama.

This operation was made possible through collaboration with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"The criminal organization is attributed with 42 illicit migrant smuggling events, during which 1,082 foreign citizens were clandestinely transferred," the Colombian Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on July 18.

The criminal organization known as Los Andariegos offered two plans to migrants: an economy option, where they transported foreigners by bus from the Colombian city of Ipiales (southwest) to the town of Necoclí (northwest), after which they crossed the dangerous Darien Gap on foot to Panama, according to the statement.

"The other route, called VIP, was offered exclusively to Chinese citizens. They were picked up in Tulcán (Ecuador) and transported by land to Medellín (Antioquia), where they were provided with air tickets to fly to San Andrés Islas. From there, they were shipped to Central American countries," said the Prosecutor's Office.

Chinese citizens paid about $3,000 for preferential passage, allowing them to avoid the dangerous Darien Gap, where many migrants have died attempting to cross the border between Colombia and Panama.

"According to Panama's Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, more than sixty migrants died trying to cross the gap in the first six months of 2023, though officials say the actual figure is likely to be much higher," the US Council on Foreign Relations said in a report published in July.

Dramatic increase

According to the report, the gang's accused leader, Cristian Rivera, was responsible for "coordinating accommodation and transfer arrangements for the foreigners."

The Prosecutor's Office has charged the suspects with aggravated criminal conspiracy and migrant trafficking.

Additionally, the accused gang leader faces charges of manufacturing, trafficking and possessing firearms and ammunition.

Since 2022, authorities across South and Central America have reported a significant surge in Chinese migrants traveling from Ecuador to the United States.

Because of the significant influx of Chinese citizens heading to the United States, Ecuador started requiring visas for Chinese nationals entering its territory, effective July 1.

Some migrants choose to cross the Darien Gap, while others, with more resources, avoid its perils.

The Darien Gap is controlled by armed groups on the Colombian side who charge fees for passage.

In 2020, three Chinese citizens were reported to have crossed the Darien Gap. This number surged to 77 in the following year and escalated dramatically to 2,005 in 2022.

Approximately 25,565 Chinese nationals crossed its border irregularly last year, according to Migration Panama.

As of May 31, a total of 10,171 Chinese citizens had arrived in Panama this year after crossing the Darien Gap.

Business on TikTok

A report by the BBC in December 2022 outlines how users of various social networks disseminate information on the journey. TikTok is distinguished by the number of posts useful to migrants.

A simple search using keywords like "the route" or "zouxian," one of the prevalent hashtags on Douyin (TikTok in China), reveals thousands of posts detailing the journey through the Darien Gap.

Some Chinese immigrants choose to establish groups on alternative platforms such as Telegram, aiming to evade the censorship imposed by the Chinese Communist Party on domestic social networks.

The curious can readily find information ranging from tips on packing light and on locations for currency exchange to strategies for evading immigration enforcement.

The increasing popularity of "zouxian" signifies heightened interest in escaping the Beijing regime, as noted by Alexis Zhou, an independent researcher specializing in Chinese migration to the United States and Canada. It underscores the desperation felt by some of those Chinese migrants.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, acquiring a visa to Mexico has become difficult for the average Chinese citizen.

"Zouxian may well be the only way for them to reach the United States," Zhou told the BBC in December 2022.

Immigration authorities, spanning from Ecuador to the United States, project a continued rise in the number of Chinese trying to enter the United States illegally in 2024.

The trend underscores the hollowness of the Chinese regime's boasts about economic vitality.