17 Venezuelan women questioned in anti-trafficking exercise at Diamond

Ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), working alongside the Home Affairs Ministry, conducted a late-night anti-trafficking operation at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, during which 17 Venezuelan nationals were screened.
The exercise was carried out between 23:30h on Sunday and 00:15h on Monday, following reports of suspected Trafficking in Persons (TIP) activity at a building in the area.
Police said ranks from GPF Headquarters and Regional Division 4 ‘B’ (East Bank Demerara), together with ministry officials, acted on intelligence and visited the premises where the women were located and interviewed.
Investigators reported that the individuals were screened for indicators of human trafficking, but no evidence of Trafficking in Persons was found. A search of the premises also revealed no illegal items, and no arrests were made.
The women were subsequently allowed to leave, and officials confirmed that the investigation has concluded with no further action at this time.
Guyana maintained a Tier 1 ranking for its response to human trafficking in the 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report by the United States Department of State.
The US TIP Report is an annual assessment that ranks countries based on their efforts to combat human trafficking. The ranking is divided into four tiers: Tier One, Tier Two, Tier Two Watch List, and Tier Three.
The Tier One placement marks the ninth consecutive year that Guyana has demonstrated serious and sustained efforts to combat TIP, the Home Affairs Ministry noted.
Guyana was one of only two Caribbean countries listed in the Tier One status, the Bahamas being the other.
According to the report, the Government in 2024 increased protection efforts. This included the Government identifying 416 victims and NGOs identifying two victims, an increase when compared with identifying 407 trafficking victims in 2023. Meanwhile, the Government screened 389 potential victims among individuals in commercial sex, an increase compared with 281 potential victims screened in 2023.
In 2024, the Government operated and fully funded four shelters for adults with a total capacity of 80 and one shelter for children with a capacity for eight child victims of crime, including trafficking.
The Government also operated three 24/7 hotlines to report human trafficking, which included two in English and one in Spanish. The hotlines received 87 calls, of which 22 led to the identification of victims, their referral to care, and criminal investigations of traffickers; this compares with an unknown number of calls in 2023, of which 39 led to further action.
The report commended the passage of the 2023 Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill before the National Assembly, which repealed the earlier Combating Trafficking in Persons Act of 2005, criminalised sex trafficking and labour trafficking and prescribed penalties of five years to life imprisonment.