December 8, 2022, 4:00 AM
December 8, 2022, 4:00 AM
Police have arrested three suspected members of a “sophisticated human trafficking network who carried migrants from Bolivia to the UK, taking advantage of the absence of border controls between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Government confirmed yesterday to EL DEBER that a woman was released and that the Bolivian business manager in the United Kingdom is monitoring the case so that the rights of the two defendants are respected.
Two men, ages 41 and 38, and a woman, 35, whose identities and nationalities were not disclosed, were arrested on Tuesday in London slums of Camberwell and Peckham, the Home Office said in a statement, AFP reported.
They are suspected of being part of “an organized criminal group related to a sophisticated human trafficking network between Bolivia and the United Kingdom,” he said.
Police also arrested a woman and a man “identified as illegal migrants from Boliviaa”, whose cases will be dealt with by the immigration services, he specified.
The Vice Minister of Consular Management, Eva Chuquimia, in contact with this medium, revealed that “the Bolivian business manager in London, Juan Carlos Crespo, visited the citizens. Of the three arrested, in the first instance, the woman was released because the Police verified that she was only a companion and was not involved in this alleged network. We are working in coordination with the technical secretariat of trafficking and trafficking of the Ministry of Government to handle this case.”
He did not reveal the names of the people. “We are in the process of investigation. Unfortunately it is a human trafficking network. We, as an institution, had detected that They operated in Cochabamba and Santa Cruzbut we did not have enough elements to intervene in it”, he added.
He explained that this supposed network contacted “people from our country who have the objective of travel to Europe to worklooking for job opportunities. It’s not like in Argentina or Brazil,” she said.
The network, explained the authority, takes Bolivians to a European territory such as the United Kingdom, like this case or some nation that integrates the Schengen Area, made up of the majority of European countries.
Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Ireland, where this organization had links, will soon be part of the agreement. However, there are countries that are not part of the European Union, such as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, although belong to the Schengen Area and share the policy of free movement.
The deputy minister stressed that the objective of the transfer of these people is “only so that they can reach Europe and search workspaces. There aren’t many, but it’s still an incident for us.”
In addition, beyond the commission of crimes “our obligation is always to ensure the rights of the two Bolivians detained. Our charge d’affaires is already in contact with the Police and the judicial authorities”.
The vice minister stressed that these two Bolivians do not have no type of nexus or connection with the diplomatic authorities or national consulates in that country. In addition, he pointed out that together with the Ministry of Government, they are investigating whether this network is Bolivian, or if it has connections in other countries. This medium sought a version of the United Kingdom embassy in La Paz. The response was that they were aware of the fact, but did not comment because “the case was handled by the English police.”
