MEXICO CITY ? A total of 81 undocumented immigrants, including three children, were detained in two Mexican states, officials said Saturday.

In two operations in the central state of Tlaxcala and eastern Veracruz State, authorities detained "81 people from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Peru, including three minors," the Mexican Public Security agency said in a statement.

Some 500,000 foreigners enter Mexico illegally each year, mostly by the southern border, en route to attempt to enter the United States, according to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).