Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Fourteen Colombian women forced into prostitution have been rescued from a brothel. The brothel, according to police, spanned from Cancun to Playa del Carmen.
Police said the victims were rescued from acts of human trafficking in the form of prostitution during the execution of search warrants. The searches were conducted at a property on La Luna and Del Sol Avenue in SM 44 of Cancun and another in Playa del Carmen.
“The first court order stems from an investigation following suspicions that the property was operating as a brothel,” police reported. “Neighbors reported men in cars were frequently observed arriving at building from which the women would leave, only to return them hours later.”
During the investigation, agents located six Colombian women who had arrived in Cancun under the promise of well-paying jobs. According to initial investigations, the women were lured by a friend, also from Colombia, who told them there was an agency in Cancun that recruited beautiful girls and paid them good salaries.
Due to the lack of opportunities and economic resources in their country, they accepted the offer and contacted a woman who ran the business. Upon arrival, they were stripped of their passports and told that they now had a debt of 120,000 pesos and that to pay it off, they had to provide sexual services.
The Colombian women were monitored day and night by cameras in the apartment where they lived. Police said “the agency manager has several addresses in Playa del Carmen where eight more women were located.”
The 14 women were taken to the State Attorney General’s Office to give their statements, which were added to the investigation. Authorities said the case has been shared with the Colombian Consulate and the National Migration Institute.
