Over 10 women and girls freed, a handful of traffickers arrested in a case of human and drug trafficking

Most of these young women were far from home, which made it even harder to envision a way out of the exploitation they found themselves trapped in. 

Several of them had fled instability in their home country in order to chase the hope of a better life in this Latin American country. Instead, they found themselves trafficked for sex between a hotel and a brothel by a dangerous criminal network that was also trafficking drugs. 

Two of the girls hadn’t even turned 18 yet. 

Several of the young women had fled instability in their home country in order to chase the hope of a better life in this Latin American country. (Image representative)

Because of the complexity of the criminal operation, collaboration between multiple players was critical for success in recovering the women and girls. The Exodus Road partnered with local law enforcement to provide investigative support and fund some logistics needs. This included cyber investigations, an area of particular expertise for The Exodus Road’s team.

All their hard work paid off when law enforcement was able to raid multiple locations at once, effectively freeing more than ten survivors and arresting the full network of criminals. They also seized the narcotics that the perpetrators were smuggling. 

The survivors are now receiving restorative care from the government. The network’s end signals a significant step forward in fighting back against trafficking’s impact in Latin America.