Interpol proves its worth in cross-border rescue operation

[reader]

From The Diplomat

By Luke Hunt

Cambodian authorities were disbelieving when persistent reports began emerging early last year that Chinese organized crime syndicates had established a network of human trafficking operations based largely out of the southern port town of Sihanoukville.

Several foreign embassies – all of them Asian – warned their citizens of the risks associated with traveling to this country and the United States dropped Cambodia to the lowest ranking on its annual Trafficking in Persons Report for failing to “meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.”

Many of those scam operations were established by Chinese criminals who decided not to return to the People’s Republic amid the great exodus as the COVID-19 pandemic was erupting in early 2020.

Instead, they stayed and traded in human misery by luring unsuspecting job seekers with false promises of well-paid work into slave compounds where they were forced to conduct a range of fraudulent telecom scams. And the traffickers prospered.

But as the pandemic ebbed and borders opened, traffickers set their sights on greener, less complicated pastures inside Myanmar.

Their victims are now seemingly being flown to Yangon, Bangkok, and onto other transit points, primarily Mae Sot, northwest of Bangkok, and Chiang Rai in the far north close to the Golden Triangle, a region notorious for drug production and other illicit trades.

Once across the border, the human cargo is transported to compounds in Shan and Karen states, where casinos have mushroomed alongside illegal and online gambling, and investment scams that primarily deal in cryptocurrencies.

Last Friday, sources say, 10 people – Indonesians, Indians, and Nepalese – were freed from a compound in territory controlled by the United Wa State Army in Shan State with the help of foreign-based NGOs.

It was an unusual operation that involved police from Indonesia and Wa State, and Interpol from ASEAN, Indonesia, India, and Myanmar. “It was an inter-agency operation – which also means the rescue took place without any involvement from the military junta,” said one source.

Their passports were retained, and workers given 12 hours a day to meet quotas. Shortly after Christmas, they began receiving physical threats. Then beatings followed, with security tightened by company managers who carried guns.

The company owners were arrested by Wa State police, operating independently from the Myanmar military, which highlights the lack of control that the military exerts in these areas while the civil war continues in other parts of the country.

Continues at

https://thediplomat.com/2023/02/focus-on-human-trafficking-shifts-from-cambodia-to-myanmar/

 

[PeterRS]

Chinese human trafficking extends into its own borders. Thanks to the one child policy, there is now such an imbalance between males and females. Somewhere in the region of 50 million men will not be able to marry. So for years now young girls have been trafficked, largely from the poor northern states of Vietnam. They merely vanish before ending up with older men and saddled with one or more children. The results can often be sexual violence, depression, PTSD and even attempted suicide.

https://ghrp.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41256-017-0049-4

The Chinese government still fails to realise that making greater efforts to reduce taboos on homosexuality and even actually encouraging it would solve their problem in a flash, at the same time preventing a great many loveless marriages.

[PeterRS]

Perhaps it's worth recalling that Interpol were useless when it came to trying to locate the Red Bull heir murderer. More than 10 years have passed since he mowed down and killed the traffic policeman - and still the Thai government is happy for this guilty man to go free despite his having been back in this country several times and spotted in other locations like London.

[reader]

Interpol certainly did drop the ball. Although the NY Times reported that a "Red Notice" was issued on Oct. 5, 2020 (eight years after the crime), it was never acted upon.

From Interpol  website:

A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. It is based on an arrest warrant or court order issued by the judicial authorities in the requesting country. Member countries apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person.

[PeterRS]

On 2/9/2023 at 6:49 PM, reader said:

Interpol certainly did drop the ball. Although the NY Times reported that a "Red Notice" was issued on Oct. 5, 2020 (eight years after the crime), it was never acted upon.

From Interpol  website:

A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. It is based on an arrest warrant or court order issued by the judicial authorities in the requesting country. Member countries apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person.

As I understand it, Interpol never posted a Red Notice request. I remember reviewing around 7,500 details of those placed on a Red Notice and the Red Bull murderer was not one.