Suspected human trafficking ring uncovered in Bolivia

[Judi Lynn]

Suspected human trafficking ring uncovered in Bolivia
March 25 2010 , 12:39:00

Bolivian authorities are investigating a human trafficking gang accused of having kidnapped some 19 Haitian children for sexual exploitation. A Haitian couple and a Bolivian woman are being investigated for child trafficking. The three are suspected of kidnapping 26 children from Haiti in January, before the earthquake struck in that country.

Santa Cruz Attorney General Francisca Rivera said there was ample proof to arrest the Haitian couple. Nineteen of the 26 children who were illegally taken from Haiti have been rescued. They are currently in the custody of UNICEF in Santa Cruz. Police are still searching for the missing seven.

Bolivian authorities believe the children were kidnapped for sexual exploitation and investigations are underway to find more members of the human trafficking ring. Head of Santa Cruz' Children's Rights Office, Maria Rosa Valencia, said most of the children have parents in Haiti and in the French Guyana. UNICEF which will ensure the children's return to Haiti said economic hardship in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere is a powerful incentive for some Haitian parents to seek adoption for their children.

http://www.sabcnews.com/portal/site/SABCNews/menuitem.5c4f8fe7ee929f602ea12ea1674daeb9/?vgnextoid=dc8c6bf2bd497210VgnVCM10000077d4ea9bRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&channelPath=World

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Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery

Republic of Bolivia

Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. Following a disastrous economic crisis during the early 1980s, reforms spurred private investment, stimulated economic growth, and cut poverty rates in the 1990s. The period 2003-05 was characterized by political instability, racial tensions, and violent protests against plans - subsequently abandoned - to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets.

http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Bolivia.htm

[EFerrari]

1. It would be interesting to get the names of the accused.

Santa Cruz sure seems to be a hub of criminal activity, doesn't it?