A number of persons were over the weekend arrested following Trafficking in Persons (TIP) operations in Georgetown, the East Bank of Demerara and the West Demerara, sources close to the operations told Stabroek News.
This newspaper understands that the owner of one of the locations, where girls were found, and another man had unlicensed firearms on their person.
Several arrests were made but it is not clear if anyone has yet been charged for any offence.
Minister of Social Protection Amna Ally told this newspaper that information on the operations will be disclosed today.
The operations started on Friday night at a Pouderoyen, West Demerara strip tease club. It continued on Saturday at Providence and at another location in the capital where it is alleged that women from Latin America and the Caribbean are also used strippers.
A police release last night said that during a search on a popular night club in Queenstown, a small quantity of narcotics was found. Seven females inclusive of foreign nationals were arrested, it said, for various offences.
Seeking to correct what it said were major failings on the part of the previous administration, government recently launched a two-year Plan of Action to combat TIP even as President David Granger underscored the importance of enforcing the laws to ensure that traffickers are successfully prosecuted and the vulnerable protected. “Human trafficking must be confronted fearlessly, frontally and fully…the laws must be backed by a plan of action aimed at eventually eliminating trafficking from our homeland,” Granger told those gathered for the launch of the National Plan of Action for the prevention and response to TIP 2017-2018.
The plan estimates that a total of $22.4 million will be spent over the next two years to ensure a number of activities are successfully executed. All assurances were given that every effort would be made to combat this scourge and that Guyana will be looking to its international partners for assistance in this regard.
Granger, delivering the feature address, said human trafficking is “a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights. It is a crime against humanity and constitutes a form of modern-day slavery.”
