U.S. offers millions in rewards targeting migrant smugglers in Darién Gap

The State Department on Tuesday announced up to $8 million in rewards to target human smugglers operating in the largely ungoverned Darién region between Colombia and Panama. Hundreds of thousands of migrants cross Panama's treacherous Darién Gap jungle on foot each month on their way to the U.S. southern border. 

The announcement came on the third anniversary of Joint Task Force Alpha, a federal program aimed at investigating and prosecuting human smuggling at the southern border. Senior leaders from the departments of Justice, Homeland Security and State convened to discuss the progress made in the past three years, officials said. 

Officials say the aim of the JTFA is to disrupt and dismantle criminal smuggling organizations working in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico. The task force's accomplishments include more than 300 domestic arrests and more than 240 U.S. convictions, according to a senior official from the Justice Department.