People smuggling

LATIN AMERICAN SMUGGLERS ARE NOW TRAFFICKING ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE

According to an Ecuadorian government official, the​ ​coyotes​ ​are a​ ​well-connected​ ​network​ ​of​ ​smugglers​ ​that​ ​operate​ ​between​ ​countries​. They are​ ​highly flexible​ ​and​ ​just​ ​change​ ​routes​ ​when​ ​they​ ​get​ ​rumbled,​ ​taking​ ​people​ ​instead​ ​on​ trucks​ ​or​ ​buses​ north​ ​to​ ​the​ ​Darien,​ ​she​ ​said.

Hermel​ ​Mendoza​ ​from​ ​the​ ​Scalabriani​ ​Mission​ ​compares it​ ​to​ ​a​ ​"transnational​ ​business"​ ​that​ ​brings​ ​huge​ ​profits. "Gangs​ ​had​ ​experience​ ​of​ ​transiting​ ​people​ ​​in​ ​the​ ​past​ ​from​ ​Ecuador​ ​to​ ​Europe​ ​and​ ​Africa.​ ​From​ ​there they​ ​started​ ​to​ ​build​ ​a​ ​network​ ​of​ ​traffickers​ ​from​ ​all​ ​these​ ​countries.​ ​Those​ ​same​ ​networks​ ​are​ ​now used​ ​by​ ​the​ ​coyotes​ ​to​ ​bring​ ​people​ ​here,"​ ​he​ ​says.

Soledad​ ​Alvarez,​ ​an​ ​academic​ ​who​ ​writes​ ​about​ ​​"Coyoterismo"​​ ​and​ ​Ecuador's​ ​position​ ​in​ ​this international​ ​trade​ ​of​ ​peoples,​ says ​​the​ ​role​ ​of​ ​the​ ​coyote​ ​has​ ​changed​ ​from​ ​someone​ ​who​ ​was well-known​ ​in​ ​small​ ​towns​ ​for​ ​helping​ ​people​ ​they​ ​knew​ ​trek​ ​north,​ ​to​ ​one​ ​that​ ​has​ "increasingly​ ​been incorporated​ ​to​ ​broader​ ​transnational​ ​smuggling​ ​networks."

"With​ ​so​ ​many​ ​controls,​ ​​coyotes​​ ​work​ ​as​ ​in​ ​a​ ​relay​​ race:​ ​from​ ​here​ ​to​ ​Colombia,​ ​one​ ​coyote,​ ​then another​ ​and​ it goes on," she wrote in a recent paper. "Via mobile phones, Ecuadorean coyotes are connected with foreign coyotes along the route. They exchange information and coordinate payments via Western union or Money Gram for the different stretches of the route."