Haitians caught up in trafficking fiasco

– 10 arrested, over 40 victims taken into protective custody

An investigation is currently ongoing regarding the involvement of Haitians and other Caribbean nationals in a transatlantic human trafficking scheme. On Friday last, 10 persons were taken into Police custody, while in excess of 40 citizens of the French Caribbean State were subsequently transferred into protective custody after falling victim to the scheme.

Ranks of the Guyana Police Force have only recently unearthed the scheme which links Haiti, Suriname and French Guiana in a major human trafficking operation, using Guyana as their main transport harbour. Based on information received, Haitians are being brought to Guyana then taken to Suriname and later French Guiana, where some of them are being abused and exploited for labour.

Following a tip-off, ranks have been zooming in on a 20-year-old medical student, who was taken into custody on Friday after the discovery of evidence linking the Haitian national to the ongoing trafficking scheme.

During their investigations, Police were directed towards information which revealed that the medical student had been receiving large sums of money from Haiti which they believed are his payments from traffickers for his supply of individuals to be exploited.

As such, the 20-year-old was arrested by ranks from the Major Crimes Unit at his Eccles, East Bank Demerara home during which a woman and her child, also from Haiti, were found.

A further 10 individuals were detained that very evening, among them Haitians and Surinamese. These individuals were en route to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), from where another 12 children and 15 adults were brought in through this system.

However, following the arrests on Friday, in excess of 40 individuals were abandoned the following day after arriving on a Copa Airlines flight at the CJIA. There was no one there to receive them.

Police are speculating that the persons set to collect the groups from the airport withdrew given the opened investigations and arrests made of their fellow conspirators.

Moreover, according to information received, upon arrival at the Airport on Friday, the Haitians provided information to officers regarding reservations made at the Guyana Marriott Hotel and Princess Hotel. An investigation was then conducted regarding the reservations, only to discover that they were subsequently cancelled.

Reports revealed that the victims of this grand human trafficking scheme left their homeland in promise of a better life and favourable salary once settled in French Guiana. However, the Haitians were faced with conditions contrary to the arrangements the moment they left their home.