A woman accused of heading an international sex trafficking ring on Thursday became the first person to be deported to Colombia for the crime of human trafficking.
Lida Marcela Muñoz Cuadros was captured on the Caribbean island of Curacao after a two-year long investigation involving Interpol and Colombia’s judicial police (DIJIN). She is accused of heading a human trafficking ring that exploited women from the Colombian departments of Valle del Cauca and Atlantico.
As is common in sex trafficking cases, the women were allegedly promised better jobs on the Caribbean island, but when they arrived were forced to pay their travel debt by entering the prostitution business.
The investigation reportedly began in 2011 after police in Colombia’s third largest city, Cali, captured four members of the human trafficking ring. The judicial police then followed a trail of emails to locate Muñoz on the island of Curacao.
According to the U.S. State Department, “this form of trafficking [sexual] is greatly under-reported and under-identified by [Colombian] officials.”
MORE: Sexual trafficking under-reported in Colombia: US
Sources
- Primera deportacion a Colombia por trata de personas (El Tiempo)
- Primera deportacion a Colombia por trata de personas (Vanguardia)
