7 News Belize

Human Traffic:
posted (November 23, 2015)
Those who've been around know it's happening all over the country in various forms, but law enforcement has had a hard time nailing the traffickers. But this weekend Orange Walk Police got lucky when a 27 year old Guatemalan woman made a report blowing the lid on an alleged human trafficker running Dominguez Bar on Otro Benque Road in Orange Walk Town. The complainant told police that this woman, 33 year old Guatemalan Rosa Anita Garcia was running the bar - and twice forced her to have sex with patrons. The compliant is compelling: she tells police that she and her 48 year old mother were tricked into coming to Belize when Garcia told them that they would be employed at a fast food restaurant. But that was just a ruse, because they ended up having to work as waitresses at the Dominguez bar, which is when the vicitm says she was forced to have sex with patrons. She says Garcia forced her to do it by threatening that her children back in Guatemala would be killed if she didn't comply. And more than being prostituted and threatened, she told police that Garcia hasn't paid her a cent since she arrived in Belize, and has kept her and her mother locked up in bar. It's an ugly report, unmasking the true face and nature of human trafficking - but so far police have not charged Garcia for human trafficking. Today she was charged for immigration offences, namely, "Failure to comply with conditions of a visitor's permit failure to renew her permit monthly, and failure to comply with conditions subject to which a permit has been granted. Orange Walk police still have her in custody pending charged for human trafficking. In the interim, the victim and her mother have been put in protective care by the human trafficking council.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize