The hotel room where the traffickers intended to sell the boy for their own profit.
The case stemmed from a lead that The Exodus Road’s investigators had been following for several months. They’d discovered a Twitter account advertising sexual services with underage boys. Once they had the evidence they needed, investigators worked with law enforcement to plan an operation to recover one of the youths being sold.
When investigators met the trafficker at the designated point in front of a department store, he brought a 13-year-old boy. Law enforcement intervened to apprehend the trafficker while The Exodus Road’s social worker stepped in to reassure the boy.
Just then, the trafficker’s phone started ringing. Investigators looked at the screen and recognized the name immediately: it was another major local trafficker in the same network. The trafficker they had arrested paid a percentage of their earnings to the trafficking boss on the phone.
Police had the trafficker answer the call on speaker and convince his boss to meet up. Because of this, they were able to arrest the second trafficker as well. The investigation is ongoing as law enforcement pursues the network that these traffickers were part of.
Meanwhile, The Exodus Road’s social worker got to know the 13-year-old child. He came from a home marked by grievous abuse, a trauma compounded by two full years being trafficked to older men. The social worker was able to help transition him to a government safe home to begin the extensive recovery process. The Exodus Road’s aftercare team in Thailand is keeping up with him to ensure that he doesn’t enter the cycle of repeat exploitation.
This 13-year-old boy never should have been sold. Thanks to you, he will not be sold any longer.
