Mexican authorities have detained a second migrant for his alleged involvement in the fire at the detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, in late March in which 40 foreigners suffocated to death and nearly thirty were injured, federal officials told The Associated Press and local media on Friday.
An official, speaking on condition of anonymity to the AP, said the arrest took place Thursday night at a Ciudad Juarez hotel where the federal government is housing those injured in the fire after they were released from the hospital to be reunited with their families. He added that the arrested, of Venezuelan nationality, would be accused of starting the fire on March 27.
The Venezuelan was identified by authorities as Carlos Eduardo C. R., according to the newspapers La Jornada and Milenio. The first migrant apprehended, who is still in pretrial detention, was Jeison Daniel C.R., also accused of starting the flames during a protest at the migrant station. The Attorney General's Office (FGR), which is carrying out the investigation, has already linked a dozen officials and employees to the process for their role during the tragedy.
[The immigration chief is prosecuted for the fire in Ciudad Juárez that left 40 dead. These are the charges against him]
Authorities work at the site of the deadly fire, covering the bodies of victims lying on the ground, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
Preliminary reports have specified that the fire occurred after a small group of migrants lit a mat to complain about the conditions of the place. The smoke spread quickly and people were trapped when guards did not open the cell to free them, security camera footage showed. Most of the victims were Central Americans and Venezuelans.
Who is being investigated
The courts have already opened criminal proceedings against the head of the National Institute of Migration (INM), Francisco Garduño, and another director of the migration agency for illegal exercise of public service and omission of obligations that led to the death of the migrants. Although the prosecution requested that they be removed from their positions, the judges rejected the request and both remain in their jobs and have been free. Garduño has the backing of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
In addition to the directors, six other immigration officials are accused of homicide and injury, including the retired military officer who was in charge of the INM in Chihuahua, where Ciudad Juárez is located. A private security guard, who is in pre-trial detention, is also under investigation.
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The prosecutor's office is also investigating irregularities and possible acts of corruption linked to the migration agency's contract with the private security company that guarded the detention center, as well as INM faults that, according to its investigations, "indicate a pattern of irresponsibility and omissions that has been repeated" for years.
In the wake of the fire, the deadliest incident on record in Mexico's immigration facilities, the INM closed small and medium-sized detention centers, such as Juárez, and began a review of conditions in larger ones.
A video that is kept "in secrecy"
The arrest of the second migrant occurs a few days after López Obrador questioned the decision of the Attorney General's Office (FGR) not to publish a video showing what happened inside the detention center.
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The FGR alleged that the recording is part of the evidence of an active criminal investigation that "must be kept secret by operation of law, except that, in this case, said video has been disseminated massively by the media and social networks," reported the EFE news agency.
With information from The Associated Press.
