Nearly 350 victims of human trafficking have been rescued by police in 13 Caribbean and Latin American countries. The Interpol-coordinated Operation Libertad saved men, women and children trafficked abroad and forced into work. Victims were found working in night clubs, factories, markets, farms and mines. Some worked in spaces “no bigger than coffins,” said Cem Kolcu of Interpol’s human trafficking unit.
Officers arrested 22 people and seized cash, mobile phones and computers.
The co-ordinated raids were the result of a two-and-a-half year project funded by the Canadian government, which also trained specialist officers for the team.
Police throughout the Caribbean were involved, including on the Dutch islands of Aruba and Curacao and the UK’s Turks and Caicos islands, as well as in Brazil and Venezuela.
Operations were directed from Barbados and supported by Interpol command centres in Lyon, France and Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires.
