Huron robbery forces Fresno Mexican consulate to halt mobile unit services
The Fresno Mexican Consulate’s mobile unit team was robbed this week in Huron suspending scheduled mobile services in Fresno County.
The robbery happened Monday overnight at the John Palacios Community Center where the consulate had installed its equipment to provide four days of services, according to consulate officials.
“It was a very sad situation,” said deputy consul Alfredo Gomez to The Bee.
The team returned to the community center early Tuesday morning and noticed that equipment was missing, including three computers, said Gomez.
Every week the consulate’s mobile unit travels to different cities in the consulate’s eight counties jurisdiction to provide services — Monday through Thursday — to Mexican nationals from passport to consular ID, to Mexican birth certificates, etc. During the four days, the mobile unite provides services to more than 500 Mexican nationals.
With the help of local police and authorities, some of the equipment was recovered, but the consulate could not continue to provide services. The consulate is evaluating the cost of the equipment that was damaged and went missing and working to replace it.
“We are very hopeful that it won’t affect our next (mobile unit) services,” said Gomez.
The mobile unit is scheduled to be in the City of Planada in Merced County the week of May 11-14, then in the City of Tulare the following week and the city the Taft in Kern County at the end of May.
Consulate officials said that those who had an appointments in Huron this week can visit the Consulate’s headquarters in Fresno, where they would be helped during business hours. The consulate will also be open this Saturday.
The Consulate is asking for the community who might have information about the robbery to contact the Huron police department or the Consulate by phone at 559-233-3065 (ext. 134) or via email at prensafre@sre.gob.mx.
