Over 40 Haitians abandoned at Cheddi Jagan Airport

May 29, 2017 News

– cops close in on human trafficking ring

With the police hot on their trail, a ring of human traffickers abandoned more than 40 Haitians at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Saturday.
The Haitians arrived on a Copa flight and there was no one at the airport to pick them up.
The police believe that the individuals who were supposed to collect the visitors backed out after realizing that the investigators were onto them.
Kaieteur News understands that the police in collaboration with the government took 27 Haitians into protective custody on Friday. A source said that both parties’ capacity to keep these people is overwhelmed.
“No one wants to take responsibility now because we don’t have anywhere to put these people and they have arrived here legally,” a policeman who is familiar with the investigation said.
On Friday night, 10 people, including Haitians, Surinamese and Guyanese, were arrested while on their way to the airport to pick up 12 children and 15 adults.
The suspected human trafficking victims are now in protective custody.
The suspects are thought to have travelled from Suriname to pick up their ‘guests’ on Friday and Saturday and then arrange their travel to Suriname (via backtrack).
A police source who is familiar with the investigation said that when the Haitians arrived at the airport on Friday, they provided information to the cops regarding reservations made at the Guyana Marriott Hotel and Princess Hotel.

Haitian refugees in the United States of America

When checks were made, it was discovered that reservations were indeed made at both hotels but they were subsequently cancelled.
The persons involved in the trafficking ring printed the hotels’ confirmation mail and gave it to their victims and then cancelled it. The reservations were made and cancelled on the same day.
One of the investigating ranks said that some of the victims have explained that while in Haiti they were promised a better life with a good salary in French Guiana. However, from the time they left their country, they are controlled by those who arrange their transshipment.
They come to Guyana, and travel to Suriname (backtrack) then to French Guiana where they work.
“These people are being separated from their children and partners. They are being fooled. In Haiti, these people tell them about a fancy salary but once they arrive in Guyana, they are being controlled and given very little money once they reach French Guiana,” the source said.
Early on Friday, ranks from the Major Crimes Unit arrested a Haitian medical student at his Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD) apartment after they were able to confirm that he is a part of the human trafficking ring.
When the arrest was made, a Haitian woman and her daughter were found in his dwelling place. He was said to be the link between human traffickers in Haiti and the other countries where these persons are taken.
Kaieteur News understands that the cops had been monitoring the medical student for some time and made the arrest after receiving sufficient facts.
While on surveillance, the cops found out that the medical student had been receiving large sums of money from Haiti. The police believed that the cash the suspect would usually receive is his payment from the traffickers which was said to be his main source of income.

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