MIGRANTS aiming to reach the United States are once again crossing the Darien Gap in large numbers, officials in Colombia said on Monday, after a strike by local boat captains ended.

Around 8,000 were stranded for much of last week in the small town of Necocli on the Caribbean coast.

Deputy Mayor Johann Wachter Espitia said that 3,000 migrants had left the town since Friday on boats headed towards the Darien jungle, with another 400 people waiting and sleeping in tents, as they gather money to pay for their tickets.

From Necocli, migrants go by boat to two remote villages, where the treacherous trails that cross the Darien Gap begin for the perilous journey to the US.

From Monday to Thursday last week, transit across the Darien dwindled as the two companies operating boat services from Necocli went on strike over the arrest of two of their captains by the Colombian navy.

The captains had been intercepted after they left Necocli in two boats carrying around 150 refugees and were accused by authorities of human trafficking.

Boat journeys resumed on Friday after the companies had several meetings with municipal and national government officials.