One Colombian male and two females from the Dominican Republic who were charged for Human Trafficking Offences and an Offence under the Children’s Act were all denied bail, when they appeared before a Scarborough Magistrate on 4th December 2023.
Deivy Oscoro Silva, 20, Digna Yulay Los Santos, 33, and Alexandra Chalas Pozo, 22, all of Riseland Trace, Bethel, Tobago were jointly charged for Trafficking in Children, when they appeared before Magistrate Christine Charles in the Scarborough Magistrates Court.
Los Santos and Pozo have also been charged with Transporting a Person for the Purpose of Prostitution, while POZO faced an additional charge of Inciting a Child to become a Prostitute.
The trio were denied bail and remanded into custody to reappear on 22nd December 2023.
On Monday 27th November 2023, officers of the Counter Trafficking Unit received information of an alleged child prostitution ring where several minors were being held against their will.
Officers immediately transitioned to the sister isle and conducted intense surveillance followed by an immediate police operation. All three accused were arrested by a team of officers from the Counter Trafficking Unit and the Special Investigation Task Force, during the intelligence-led police operation.
Three Latin American female minors were also rescued, and several items of evidential value were found and seized.
The operation was spear-headed by Snr. Supt. Christopher Paponette of the Special Investigations Unit in collaboration with the Director of the Counter Trafficking Unit, with Legal advice being given by TTPS Legal Officer Cpl Zaheer Ali. The operation was supervised by Sgt Walters of the Counter Trafficking Unit and Cpl Antoine of the Special Investigations Task Force, alongside representatives from the Children’s Authority and the Victims and Witness Support Unit.
The charges were laid by WPC Rodriguez of the Counter Trafficking Unit, following advice on Monday 4th December 2023.