A Venezuelan woman was on Wednesday jailed for six months after she pleaded guilty to operating a brothel, contrary to the Combatting of Trafficking in Persons Act.
Jailed: Mayelin Cordova
This is according to a statement from the Human Services and Social Security Ministry. The convict, Mayelin Cordova, 41, appeared at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court where the charge was read to her.
The Ministry related that, initially, two Venezuelan women were arrested at the brothel — a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes.
Cordova was subsequently prosecuted after a multi-agency raid that involved the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Unit of that Ministry, the Police Force, and the Home Affairs Ministry. This is the third conviction the Unit has secured for 2023.
The Unit continues to provide protective care, counselling, and other support to victims of human trafficking.
Other convictions
Last month, 64-year-old businessman Feezal Shaw of Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after he was convicted of trafficking a Venezuelan national for labour exploitation. As part of his sentence, Shaw must pay $2,127,000 in restitution to the victim.
The Prosecution’s case is that the Venezuelan national arrived in Guyana on February 14, 2018 via Port Charity. On February 15, 2018, the individual was taken to a house at Timehri, EBD to build exotic cages at $10,000 per cage.
After three weeks, Shaw reportedly paid the victim some money, but then took away the victim’s passport although he had promised to assist the foreigner to obtain a work permit.
There was another human trafficking conviction in March. In that case, Tito Browne, known as “Tommy” and “Yankee”, was sentenced to four years in prison on each of two counts of human trafficking involving two Jamaicans. The sentences will run concurrently.
This 44-year-old resident of Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), was also fined $200,000 and ordered to pay $6,300,000 restitution to the victims. He was also handed a one-year jail sentence on a count of withholding the passports of foreign nationals.
According to the prosecution’s facts, in November 2020, one of the victims met an individual in Trelawney, Jamaica, who indicated to him that Browne had some farming work for him to do in Kara Kara Creek, Guyana, and that he was willing to pay US$5000 for the work to be done.
The first victim then informed the second victim about the opportunity, and together they arranged with Browne, who promised to facilitate all their travel expenses. They then left Jamaica on December 12, 2020.
When they arrived in Guyana, Browne instructed them to inform immigration that they would only be spending two weeks.
Upon arriving at the campsite at Kara Kara Creek, Browne informed them that they would be spending six months at the campsite, and he confiscated their passports.
The victims recounted that, from the date of entry to April 24, 2021, they worked at the Kara Kara camp but never received any compensation from Browne.
The victims added that Browne would visit periodically and demand that they work more diligently. He also continuously promised to pay them, but never did.
The duo stated that they could only contact their family on Browne’s phone when he visited. They recounted being unable to travel from the campsite, and related that, for the last three weeks, no one visited them, which caused their supplies to run low.
Eventually, the victims were forced to venture from the camp in search of other campsites, walking through bushes and swamplands until they managed to locate a logger, who eventually took them to a village where they related their story and made a Police report.
The Government’s commitment to preventing human trafficking has been demonstrated in the implementation of several policies and collaborations with various stakeholders, including the Guyana Police Force (GPF); Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC); Maritime and Airport security officials; medical professionals; and Education, Welfare, and Guidance officers.
Notably, Guyana has maintained its Tier One status in the US Department of State’s 2022 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. According to the report, “The Government of Guyana fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The Government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore, Guyana remained on Tier 1.”
The Human Services and Social Security Ministry continues to encourage people to report all suspicious activities on hotline numbers (592) 227-4083 or (592) 623-5030.
Spanish-speaking persons can contact (592) 624-0079.
