Human Traffickers Arrested

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Human trafficking gang rounded up

26 Feb, 2009, 09:22 (GMT -04:00)

WILLEMSTAD – With the arrest of four suspects yesterday morning and the rescue of five victims, the authorities have put an end to the activities of a criminal organization that was dealing in people and human trafficking from Surinam to Trinidad and Curaçao.

The Surinamese authorities have requested the Public Prosecutor to trace a number of victims that were deprived of their freedom and the arrest of the suspects involved that fled from Trinidad to Curaçao and forced a number of victims to go with them.

Two men and two women between the age of 22 and 29 were arrested on the property Dorus H in Sta Catharina yesterday morning. All four are from Surinam. They imprisoned five compatriots, two men and three women. The five persons will be received by social workers and eventually returned to Surinam.

The suspects recruited men and women in Surinam to work in the horeca (hotel, restaurants and cafes) in the Netherlands. To do so, they first had to go to Trinidad to follow a course. After paying thousands of euros, dozens of men and women were taken from Surinam to Trinidad. Once in that country, the gang confiscated the victims’ passports, they were forced to do heavy physical labour in and around the home of the suspects. The victims were also ill-treated and forced to have their family in Surinam transfer money from Surinam to Trinidad for the benefit of the suspects.

When the suspects realized that the Surinamese- and Trinidad authorities were after them, they fled from Trinidad to Curaçao. Some of the victims got a chance to escape and returned to Surinam, where they were received by the Surinamese authorities. The suspects forced some victims to go with them to Curaçao, where they arrived in November and December of last year. The suspects tried to do the same thing they were doing in Trinidad, but they were caught this morning.

Comment: Our readership should recall that the Kalpoes originate from Suriname. Suriname has been identified as the hub of human trafficking for South America. Entering a conduit to Suriname would have been easy for human traffickers in possession of Natalee.

With Aloha,