Colombia: Human trafficking ring busted

Bogota, Aug 14: The Colombian Attorney General's office said Tuesday that a multi-agency task force took down an international human trafficking ring, arresting 12 suspects and rescuing nine undocumented migrants.

The migrants - five Nepalese and four people from Bangladesh - were found at a safe house in the northwest province of Antioquia.

The traffickers planned to take the migrants to Panama en route to their ultimate intended destination in the US, the AG's office said, adding that the foreign nationals were handed over to immigration authorities.

Taking part in the operation to dismantle the ring were the AG's office, the National Police and the navy.

Investigations by the Transnational Crime Group of the AG's office, with the backing of investigation agencies at the US Embassy, found that the criminal organization was apparently headed by two African citizens residing legally in Colombia.

The human trafficking ring was also discovered to have been handling since 2011 the logistics for smuggling nationals from Africa, Asia and Arab countries into Colombia illegally by land from Ecuador and Venezuela on their way to the US.

IANS