Spokesman Pablo Castillo told reporters that 14 raids were carried out in several parts of the country to arrest members of the criminal organization, including the alleged leader Martha Luz López.

"This transnational criminal structure is dedicated to the transfer of persons of foreign nationality in an illegal manner that has operators in Brazil, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico," he said.

He said that operations are being carried out in parallel in Brazil, Peru, Panama, Honduras and Mexico, but he did not release results. He said that the investigation established that citizens of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Eritrea enter the continent through Brazil by air, to move through the region by sea and land routes.

To Guatemala they enter by illegal steps with the border of Honduras, to later transfer them by land to the city of Tecún Umán, border with Mexico. The group charged between US $ 15,000 and US $ 20,000 per person to take them illegally to the United States, he added.

"It was established that the structure retains the victims in inhumane conditions and are threatened with death if they do not comply with the payment agreed upon at the beginning of the trip," he lamented, adding that the gang operates in Chiquimula, east and border with Honduras; Guatemala, to the center where the capital is; Escuintla, in the south, and San Marcos, southwest and border with Mexico.

During the process of research and action, 117 people from Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Eritrea have been rescued, he said. The investigations began in 2016 and there are already more than 20 people in prison.