KATHMANDU: Sixteen Nepali migrants, presumably heading to the United States of America with the help of human smugglers, have been arrested in Guatemala, according to media reports.

According to Agence France Presse, Guatemalan authorities held 33 undocumented migrants -- 16 Nepalis and 17 Bangladeshis -- on Sunday when they were being transported in a bus on the outskirts of Guatemala City, the capital of the Central American country.

In August, Guatemalan police had detained 20 migrants, including 11 Nepalis, who had illegally entered the country apparently on their way to the United States of America.

Human smugglers have been found to be taking migrants from Asian countries to the United States of America via Central American countries El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.