Nearly ten individuals freed from trafficking in a cult, their trafficker arrested

A desire for belonging and a deeper understanding of how we’re all connected to each other is a universal human need. Unfortunately, spiritual groups like one The Exodus Road recently investigated in Latin America can exploit those very human desires, leading to psychological control, forced labor, and even sexual abuse and assault. 

The spiritual organization had previously operated in another country before fleeing due to legal trouble there. The leader then set up a center in a new Latin American country and began advertising itself as a place of healing. Unfortunately, it was the opposite.

Under the control of spiritually and psychologically coercive beliefs and psychoactive substances, the cult leader indoctrinated those who sought wholeness through his organization. Instead of deeper meaning, participants found their finances controlled, labor demanded of them, and physical and sexual abuse and assault. The leader’s profit from the labor and sexual acts of others qualified the situation as trafficking.

The Exodus Road’s global team investigated, operating with care in response to law enforcement’s request for support. They gathered multimedia evidence of the recruitment tactics, the false promises, and the reality participants were actually living in.

When they had enough to prove the depths of coercion, law enforcement acted. They arrested the cult leader turned trafficker, taking him into custody so he can be prosecuted for his crimes.

The men and women who were freed were filled with a storm of coexisting emotions: relief, self-blame for following the false promises, disorientation from substance withdrawal, and severe anxiety. But even after mental, emotional, and physical control that reached the very core of their beliefs about self and reality, the survivors showed remarkable bravery. With counseling support and care, many survivors gave clear, decisive testimonies to law enforcement. These testimonies will be the most critical factor in convicting the trafficker.

There is great darkness in the fact that a person would use the guise of a spiritual institution to traffic others. But there is even greater light in the traits that made these survivors initially vulnerable to exploitation but ultimately strong enough to survive it and testify: a desire for truth, connection, and love.

Interrupting the complexities of trafficking in a cult through investigative work and holding traffickers accountable is possible because of people around the world who stand with The Exodus Road. Together, we can continue exposing exploitation and disrupting trafficking in all forms. Thank you for standing with us in the fight against human trafficking!