51 migrants found in Costa Rica truck

Officials in Costa Rica discovered 51 migrants from Bangladesh, Nepal,  Somalia, Eritrea, Iraq and Pakistan in a cattle truck driven by suspected people-smugglers Wednesday, authorities said.

The vehicle was pulled over in the Pacific coast town of Herradura and the migrants, who were without visas, were found inside, the public security ministry said.

The Costa Rican driver of the truck and three other people with him were detained on suspicion of people trafficking, a crime which can result in sentences of two to six years in prison.

A ministry spokesman, Carlos Hidalgo, said of the migrants: "They were crammed in like cattle, it was a terrible situation."

The foreigners had been brought over the border from Panama and said they had each paid smugglers $4,000 to $15,000, Hidalgo said, adding: "But it is not yet clear to where they were headed."

Twenty-six of the migrants were from Nepal, nine from Bangladesh, nine from Somalia, four from Eritrea, two from Iraq and one from Pakistan.

They were handed over to immigration officials. Undocumented migrants often pass through Central America in a bid to get to the United States, despite increased border scrutiny in several countries along the route.