Dominican Republic rescues over 80 trafficked women

Santo Domingo.- Cattleya is the name by which the Public Ministry calls the simultaneous operation that it carried out this Thursday in dozens of establishments in the National District and Bávaro, in the province of La Altagracia.

It said it rescued more than 80 women, between 18 and 23 years old, from South America, victims of sexual exploitation. The young women were held at the Hotel Caribe, in the National District, and at the Residencial Coco Real, in Bávaro, Punta Cana.

The Attorney General’s Office reported that the raids were the product of an investigation that began nine months ago.

En la operación participaron 25 fiscales, más de 200 agentes de la Policía Nacional y más de 50 técnicos de investigación y especialistas en atención a víctimas. Durante los operativos, los equipos ocuparon sustancias controladas, como marihuana y drogas sintéticas.

The General Directorate of Prosecution of the Public Ministry and the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office against Illicit Smuggling of Migrants and Trafficking in Persons (PETT) announced that the prosecutors will file criminal charges against 10 accused Venezuelans, Colombians, and Dominicans.