Mexican authorities have freed 107 indigenous people who officials say were being held as slave laborers in a Mexico City factory disguised as a drug rehabilitation center.
Twenty-three suspects were arrested in Thursday's raid, said Miguel Angel Mancera, Mexico City's attorney general. Two more were arrested Friday morning, officials said. The victims ranged from 14 to 70 years old, and some were tortured, Mancera told CNN affiliate TV Azteca. Some victims also suffered sexual abuse, he said.
"They were beaten," he said. "Several have wounds, serious wounds. We even have some of the victims with fractures."
All of the victims were suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition, he said. Some were taken to a hospital. The captives, some of whom speak only indigenous languages and no Spanish, were locked in the building, which had bars on the windows and a fence outside, he said. They made handbags and clothespins and were not paid. Their only daily meal consisted of chicken legs and rotten vegetables, Mancera said. "The vast majority of the food we found was spoiled," he said.
Video of the inside of the building showed filthy and crowded living conditions. The men and women worked 8 a.m. to midnight and were given only a half-hour food break. They were not allowed to go to the bathroom, and many soiled themselves, officials said. The attorney general labeled it "cruel and inhuman treatment." The victims, he said, were abused mentally and physically, "with all sorts of pressure." Most of the victims were nabbed off the street by some of the suspects under the guise of giving them treatment for alcoholism or drug addiction, the attorney general said... CNN>>
