Colombian police have arrested ten people for duping underprivileged mothers into working as prostitutes in China, Singapore, and Panama, where they were held as indentured servants.
One of the allegedly dismantled rings specialized in deceiving young women fitting a certain physical profile into working as prostitutes in Asia and Central America, telling them that all travel, visa, and related costs would be covered.
Once overseas, the traffickers threatened to keep their passports and kill their families if the women did not continue to work as slaves, in unsanitary conditions.
Seven members of the criminal organization were apprehended.
Three members of a second human trafficking ring were also arrested in Bogota earlier this week. The group brought underage girls from the southwestern Valle del Cauca state by offering them jobs in the capital Bogota. The girls were subsequently forced to work in prostitution.
MORE: 20 girls held as sex slaves by Bogota human traffickers: Victims
Counting these arrests, Colombian police say they have arrested more than 25 people involved in pimping, trafficking, and sexually related offenses over the past month.
According to the United States, Colombia is one of the main origin countries for human trafficking in the hemisphere. Victims from the South American country are commonly trafficked within the country or sent to work as prostitutes or forced laborers elsewhere in the world.
Sources
- Desmanteladas dos bandas que engañaban mujeres para prostituirlas en Asia y en Bogotá (Prosecutor General’s office)