NIAMEY, Niger, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Nigerian authorities intercepted a caravan of migrants in the Sahara Desert who were allegedly trying to slip into Algeria, sources told the BBC.
Authorities arrested 127 migrants traveling in a five-vehicle convoy near the town of Arlit, the report said.
The migrants, believed to be from Niger and Nigeria, were primarily adult males.
The arrests came days after 92 migrants died of thirst after their two trucks broke down in the unforgiving desert, the BBC said.
An army patrol earlier found the bodies of five migrants from the same convoy.
The Niger desert has become a major transit route for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa whose ultimate destination is Europe, the BBC said.
Niger's government said Friday it planned to crack down on migrant smuggling and would close down a string of migrant transit camps in the northern half of the country.
