Q.Roo: Human Sex Trafficking Crackdown Rescues 21 Women and Arrests 12 Criminals

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: MND/ CNNesp/ RMN

Outrage over human trafficking in Mexico after raid on two "spas" in Cancun and Playa del Carmen:

Two protests and the arrest of 12 people for sex trafficking have revealed that forced prostitution is just beneath the veneer of sun and sand in Cancún and Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo.

Last week, protesters demonstrated on behalf of the 21 victims of the sex trafficking rings, shouting “We want justice!” and “No more impunity!” outside each city’s courthouse.

Students, activists and even members of a motorcycle club gathered to denounce forced prostitution as judges presided over preliminary hearings in two of the state’s largest sex trafficking cases, in which foreign women were brought to Mexico to work in spas and then forced into prostitution. 

The authorities announced that they have dismantled a gang dedicated to the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation in Cancun and Playa del Carmen. And, as Rafael Romo informs us, they assure us that the victims, from various countries, arrived deceived at that Mexican tourist destination, believing that they were going to get good jobs.

It was an unusual scene, especially for two cities in Mexico best known for their beaches and tourism.

"We want justice!" Shouted dozens of people gathered at dawn in front of a state court in the resort of Cancun on Thursday of last week. The crowd, mostly activists, students and human rights lawyers, were pleasantly surprised when the number increased with the arrival of members of a motorcycle club.

Several hours later, the same protesters appeared in another state court in the nearby resort of Playa del Carmen, chanting the same message and adding another: "No more impunity!"

In both cases, judges were to hear evidence about the state's largest human trafficking raid in years, which involved women from as far away as Argentina and Germany who were allegedly tricked into working as prostitutes.

An alleged plan to bring women to Mexico:

On the night of July 30, agents under the command of the Quintana Roo State Attorney's Office raided two buildings in Cancún and Playa del Carmen. 

Nine people were arrested and 14 young women rescued after police busted a prostitution ring in Playa del Carmen. La Fiscalía General del Estado de Quintana Roo says that investigative police officers completed a search warrant and captured nine people, including seven men and two women, for human trafficking.

They arrested 13 people, 12 of whom were later indicted on human trafficking charges, among others.

According to the attorney general of the state of Quintana Roo, Óscar Montes de Oca, the suspects had held dozens of women captive, many of them from foreign countries.

La Fiscalía General del Estado de Quintana Roo says their search warrant lead to the arrest of Jesus P, Fabián D, Manuel B, Mario R, José M, María P, José R, Víctor L and Mónica C, as well as the rescue of 14 young woman. On site, police also seized several bags of marijuana and two vehicles believed used to transport people to the site.

“They were advertised as a spa business; but in reality, there were sexual acts in those two places where women were being exploited, " Montes de Oca told CNN in an interview. Although advertised separately, the two locations were believed to be run by the same people, the state attorney's office said.

Online advertisements seen by CNN show that the registered buildings operated a business offering "the best escorts in Playa del Carmen" with photos of scantily clad women, touted as "available 24/7."

Ads ran on the dark web for years, Montes de Oca says, and they were not easily found by average people. It took about a week for his office's cybercrime unit to locate the ads and begin the investigation. Investigators also did surveillance and used other methods, according to the attorney general.

In all, Montes de Oca says his agents found 21 women between the ages of 21 and 25 who were forced to work in those two places. At the Cancun site there were two women from Venezuela , two from Mexico and one from Argentina, Colombia and Germany, according to the state attorney general's office. There were 11 other Venezuelan women at the Playa del Carmen site, two Mexican women and one Colombian.

All had been lured with offers of well-paying jobs as personal assistants or spa therapists, Montes de Oca told CNN. “Once here, they were told that they had to pay for their transportation, plane tickets, immigration procedures and that the way to pay for this was through prostitution. If they refused, they threatened them with physical harm or worse, ”he said, adding that the traffickers took the victims' passports and other personal identification documents, making escape almost impossible.

In both cases, the judges allowed several months for the state and defense to conduct investigations, with follow-up hearings in the fall. During this time, the 12 suspects must remain in detention.

The state Attorney General’s Office conducted raids on two locations in the resort cities on July 30 in which a total of 12 people were indicted on several charges, including human trafficking. 

Quintana Roo Attorney General Óscar Montes de Oca said that dozens of women, many from foreign countries, were held captive. “They advertised as a spa business; but in reality, there were sexual acts happening in those two places where women were being exploited,” Montes de Oca told CNN. 

Online ads offering “the best escorts in Playa del Carmen” accompanied by suggestive photos of women ran in obscure corners of the dark web for years, Montes de Oca said, until they were brought to the attention of investigators.

In all, 21 young women from Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia and Germany were freed by authorities. 

All had been lured by offers of high-paying jobs as personal assistants or spa therapists that didn’t pan out upon arrival in Mexico, Montes de Oca said. “Once here, they would tell them that they had to pay for their transportation, plane tickets and immigration processing and that the way to pay for that was through prostitution. If they refused, they were threatened with physical harm or worse,” he said. The women’s passports and ID were seized by traffickers to prevent their escape. 

Human trafficking is not an anomaly in Mexico by any means. In a 2017 raid in Toluca, 24 foreign women were freed after being lured here with high-paying jobs and forced into prostitution.

The U.S. State Department reports that Mexico identified 706 victims of human trafficking in 2018, but the actual number is suspected to be significantly higher as organized crime has become involved. As a former pimp from Mexico City told CNN in 2015, “You can only sell a drug once, but you can sell a woman countless times.”

Mexican actress and activist Claudia Lizaldi, who attended Thursday’s Cancún protest, said it was time action was taken to end these kinds of crimes in Mexico. “Nobody deserves to lose a child to human trafficking. No child deserves to be a victim of human trafficking. No woman, regardless of her country of origin, should be a victim of human trafficking. We, as Mexicans, shouldn’t have to put up with this reality where Mexico is a top destination for sexual tourism,” she said.

After being forced to work as prostitute across Mexico for four years beginning at the age of just 12 during which she says she was raped some 43,200 times, human trafficking victim Karla Jacinto is outspoken about her experiences and is steadfast in her commitment to prevent the same thing from happening to other women.

Jacinto, who has visited the Vatican and testified before the U.S. Congress to end human trafficking, said she was infuriated that it continues to happen. 

“We need more prevention efforts, more help. I want all of society not to see this as something normal, to see this as something that really could happen to one of your children.”

Under Mexico’s 2012 anti-trafficking law, anyone convicted of sex trafficking can face from five to 30 years in prison.

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