Santo Domingo,.- A total of twenty women, including Dominicans, Haitians, and Colombians, victims of a sexual exploitation network in Puerto Plata, were rescued in an operation carried out by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office Against the Illicit Trafficking of Migrants and Trafficking in Persons (PETT) and the Prosecutor’s Office of said province, in coordination with the General Directorate of Prosecution.
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The arrests took place in simultaneous raids in Puerto Plata, at the Keobs Night Club entertainment center, located on Las Palomas street; in the Carlos III building, on Primera Cerros del Atlántico street, and in a hotel. Authorities arrested Rocío Nicole Paulino, known as ‘Mamasan’, Vanesa Sirete de Ventura, Medelyn Antorcha Francisco Cortés and Luis Carlos Céspedes Herrera in simultaneous raids carried out by the Joint Specialized Investigation Unit Against the Illicit Trafficking of Migrants and Related Crimes (Uitimc), attached to the PETT, in coordination with the Prosecutor’s Office of Puerto Plata and the Special Division of Investigation of Transnational Crimes (Deidet) of the National Police. In the operation, the authorities seized 900,000 pesos, 26,600 US dollars, and a twelve-gauge shotgun with more than twenty cartridges. In addition, law enforcement seized two vehicles, a Hyundai Sonata and a Suzuki, as well as items of a yellow metal, presumably gold, notebooks and notepads, and electronic equipment. In the action, members of the Central Prevention Directorate of the National Police and the Department of Investigation of Trafficking in Persons of the National Police also participated; as well as the NGO Anti-Trafficking Bureau (ATB).
