Abandoned girl returned to family in El Salvador

And while the U.S. State Department has its problems with Belize’s efforts to curb human trafficking, tonight we are happy to report that Diana Baños, the four year old child whom police suspect was smuggled into the country one month ago, has been returned to her family in El Salvador. On April twenty-eighth local authorities on a routine patrol discovered the little girl in a car that was searched on the Western Highway. The minor was in the company of a group of people, none of whom would claim responsibility for her. Young Banos was then placed in the care of the Ministry of Human Development until the child’s relatives could be located. That search was successful and on May fifth, the child was returned home to her family. According to a spokesperson from the Salvadoran Embassy, their investigations reveal that Banos was left in the care of her grandmother in El Salvador after the child’s mother left the country to go and live in the United States. It is believed that Diana was smuggled out of Salvador into Belize and was on her way to the Mexican border. From there she was supposed to be smuggled into the U.S. to be reunited with her mother.