The young women, according to the Attorney General's Office, were held in hotels in the capital and in the tourist destination of Punta Cana. | Photo: Listin Diario

Santo Domingo, August 7 (RHC)-- The Dominican Republic's Attorney General's Office has concluded a police operation in dozens of establishments in the capital, Santo Domingo, and other localities in which it rescued more than 80 women, between 18 and 23 years old, from South America, victims of sexual exploitation.

According to information from the Attorney General's Office, the raids were the result of an investigation that began nine months ago and according to prosecutors, criminal charges will be brought against ten Venezuelan, Colombian and Dominican defendants.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the actions against human trafficking are part of the actions taken against transnational crime.  In particular, the dismantled network would be, according to the Prosecutor's Office, "a transnational criminal organization dedicated to recruiting women between 18 and 23 years of age, in different countries, specifically from Colombia and Venezuela, for the commission of the crime of trafficking in persons under the modality of commercial sexual exploitation." 

The young women, according to the version of the Attorney General's Office, were held in hotels in the capital and the tourist destination of Punta Cana.  Once taken to the Dominican Republic, the victims were forced to admit that they had a debt of between 3,000 and 4,000 dollars with the networks that moved them, they were forced to take drugs and were subjected to humiliating and subhuman treatment.

They also informed that the operation involved 25 prosecutors, more than 200 agents of the National Police and more than 50 investigation technicians and specialists in victim assistance. During the operations, the teams seized marijuana and synthetic drugs.