Mexican authorities intercepted a vessel off the coast of Sinaloa carrying 28 teenagers from the state of Chiapas. According to the Attorney General's Office, 27 of them were minors aged 14 to 17, and one was 18 years old. The operation was carried out by the Navy in the open sea off the northern coast of the state. Initially, reports suggested a possible rescue and that the youths were allegedly being kidnapped, however, state Civil Protection authorities denied that it was a human trafficking incident. According to local media, Ángel Daniel Corrales López, head of Civil Protection, stated that the teenagers are agricultural day laborers who were returning to the state of Chiapas after an inspection at their workplace in Baja California failed to verify that they had their parents' or legal guardians' authorization to work. 'This is not a rescue or a kidnapping,' he emphasized. The minors were in transit in an operation coordinated by the authorities solely because it could not be proven that they had their parents' consent to work,' it was stated. According to the authorities, the teenagers were being transported by sea as passengers to the port of Topolobampo in the municipality of Ahome to be returned to their families in Chiapas. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor's Office updated that 'the individuals were placed under the custody of the Regional Vice-Prosecutor's Office of the North Zone (...) in order to provide them with comprehensive care and protection.' In addition, the public ministry stated that 'no arrests were reported in connection with this incident.'
