A massive group of at least 117 undocumented migrants from a variety of African nations including the Democratic Republic of the Congo illegally flooded across the mountainous border from Panama into Costa Rica on Monday, attempting to avoid the attention of authorities by entering the country through several remote areas, according to Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security.

Some of the illegal migrants made it as far as Ciudad Neily, some 17 kilometers north of the border, before being apprehended.

The group is believed to be the largest from central and west Africa to be detained in Costa Rica to date.

Costa Rica’s border police have reinforced their efforts to monitor remote areas of the country’s southern border this month after a second wave of more than 1,000 Cuban migrants attempting to reach the United States began piling up on the Panama-Costa Rica border in recent weeks.

Of the at least 117 African migrants, 60 claimed asylum after being apprehended, according to immigration authorities. Those who claimed asylum will be permitted to remain in Costa Rica while their claims are processed, but must support themselves during their stay, authorities said.

The remaining migrants were returned to Panama.

Costa Rican authorities have increasingly been encountering undocumented migrants from the Middle East and Africa attempting to traverse Costa Rica and Central America en route to the United States.

Just this month, Costa Rica authorities have made at least two other detentions – though in much smaller groups – of undocumented West African migrants.

In recent months – and while simultaneously dealing with the Cuban migrant crisis which saw thousands of US-bound undocumented migrants from Cuba stranded in Costa Rica until an airlift to the Mexico-US border was finally brokered – Costa Rica has also been dealing with an unprecedented number of undocumented migrants from Iraq, Syria, Nepal, Bangladesh, Somalia, and Ghana, amongst other countries, attempting to traverse its territory.

Central America is increasingly being used as a “land bridge” for migrants and refugees from around the world to reach the United States.

Most migrants begin their journey by flying to Ecuador, in South America, a country that doesn’t require entry visas for nearly any nationality.  The migrants then continue their journey northward by land, illegally traversing Central America nations like Costa Rica along the way with the assistance of human smugglers and traffickers.