Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan yesterday reported a dramatic reduction in human trafficking cases for the year, while also revealing that almost 85% of the victims are Venezuelan nationals.
Ramjattan made the disclosures during the launching of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the investigation and prosecution of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) cases at the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Training Centre.
The minister said that from January to November 2019, the GPF investigated 18 suspected cases of TIP, which involved 138 females, all of whom were allegedly trafficked for sexual exploitation. He added that 115 of the women were under the age of 30 and seven were below the age of 18, while 116 of the total number are Venezuelans, 11 are Dominican and the remainder Guyanese. There were 50 suspects and he said the investigations resulted in eight convictions. Region Four accounted for 87% of the cases.
