(de Ware Tijd) NIEUW NICKERIE – District secretary Hesdy Veira was arrested on Monday by the police of Nickerie for allegedly abusing two minors. Police say that Veira, who runs the Pleasure Bar in Statenweg in the rice district, was arrested for human trafficking and smuggling. Police PR officer Humphrey Naarden expects the case to be handed over to the Trafficking in Persons Unit (TiP) soon.
Naarden explains that the top official in the Ministry of Regional Development is not a first offender. Nardo, a neighbor, says that two girls, ages 14 and 16, were working in the bar at night. ‘I live close by, but I have never seen the girls outside the building,’ Nardo says. The girls, Guyanese, were brought in via the infamous back track.
Girls that are smuggled in this way, are placed under the care of older women who have worked in the bar. Nardo does not know how the girls managed to get word out of their situation. He deplores the fact that Veira, who had been arrested for a similar case, has violated the law again. The young man hopes that a thorough investigation will follow, because he suspects more people to be involved.-.
