Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — An investigation into human trafficking has lead police to Playa del Carmen homes from where eight women were rescued. Their freedom came Tuesday after a search of two properties.
State police arrived with warrants for two homes located in the Misión Las Flores subdivision. Inside each were several abducted women. A total of eight Colombian woman were removed from the homes by police who reported they were being forced into prostitution.
The successful operation was in coordination with the Quintana Roo State Attorney General and National Prosecutor of Colombia.
“Derived from investigative work by the State Attorney General’s Office, in collaboration with the National Prosecutor’s Office of Colombia, as well as the OUR Rescue Organization and the National Guard, eight women of Colombian nationality, alleged victims of human trafficking in their modality of third-party prostitution, were rescued during the execution of two search warrants in properties located in the Misión Las Flores subdivision in this municipality,” authorities reported Tuesday.
The women were recruited from their country and promised jobs in luxury hotels. “In order to hook them, they also offered to pay for the trip and the necessary expenses to settle in, thereby generating a debt that would have to be settled when they began to receive the salary of the supposed job that they would get,” Quintana Roo authorities explained in a statement.
Upon arrival in Mexico, they collected the women’s passports and identification cards, threatening them with alleged contact with authorities and the police in case they tried to escape.
The victims were deprived of their liberty and were forced to provide numerous sexual services a day in addition to having photographs taken of them to display on an Internet platform where they were promoted as sex workers.
The Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Combating Human Trafficking continues with the investigations to find the people who lead this criminal organization.
