RESCUED: Tijuana police save 12 migrants kidnapped by armed human trafficking group

At least 12 Mexican migrants were rescued Wednesday by Tijuana Municipal Police officers after three of the alleged kidnappers were arrested during a confrontation with local law enforcement.

The rescue took place after a group of officers were shot at during a surveillance patrol on the neighborhood Rincón del Oro. The agents responded to the attack and wounded one of the attackers in the right leg, who was identified as Ángel "N", alias "Oper", 21, who has a record for possession of marijuana, according to local reports.

Two other alleged criminals were subsequently captured, after they were found hiding in a house where authorities also located 12 people who said they had been kidnapped.

Five of the victims are from the state of Veracruz, three from Chihuahua, two from Mexico City, one from the state of Mexico and one from Chiapas.

In addition, the police seized two AR-15 rifles, .223 caliber, as well as four magazines and 99 cartridges.

Mexican authorities stated that the detainees are part of a criminal group dedicated to human trafficking in the United States. The alleged kidnappers were handed over to the Attorney General's Office of the state of Baja California, which will handle potential prosecutions.

Tijuana is an area with a large presence of migrants wishing to cross the border into the United States in search of the "American dream."

Organized crime groups have taken advantage of the situation by carrying out kidnappings or forcing migrants to cross with drugs in exchange for "helping" them to reach the United States.

The president of the Citizen Committee in Defense of Naturalized and Afro-Mexicans, Wilner Metelus, took aim at Mexico's policy of containing migrants saying it has allowed criminal groups to take advantage of this situation to take them to the border and abuse them.