5 October 2011
U.S.A.:
• Woman Gets 16.5 Years In Prison For Drop-House Operation 30-Year-Old Ran Phx Homes Where
Immigrants Were Held Hostage [Arizona]: A 30-year-old California woman was sentenced to 16.5 years
in prison Monday for running drop houses in Phoenix where smuggled illegal immigrants were held hostage
at gunpoint. … Xochitl Padilla Barron, of Sacramento, became involved in human smuggling in July 2008
when she helped start a drop house in Phoenix where undocumented immigrants were held for weeks, said
Sandy Raynor, a U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman. … Padilla's role in the operation included collecting
and laundering hostage fees paid by the smuggled immigrants' families. … In March 2009, Padia had a part
in the operation of another Phoenix drop house where an extortion call to a victim's family was made. In
September of that year, Padilla oversaw the operation at another house where she recruited guards and
supplied weapons and ammunition to hold nine people hostage. … Padilla is the sixth person convicted and
sentenced for participating in the smuggling conspiracy at drop houses. Her sentence of 16.5 years is the
longest sentence that has been imposed to date. [HSEC-3.10; Date: 4 October 2011; Source:
http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/100411_human_smuggling_sentence/woman-gets-165-years-
prison-drop-house-operation/]
INTERNATIONAL:
• Peru Sex Slavery: Police Free 300 Women In Amazon: At least four people were arrested in Puerto
Maldonado on suspicion of human trafficking. Among those rescued from about 50 brothels were at least
10 minors - the youngest was a 13-year-old girl. More than 400 police took part in the three-day operation
in the region, known for its illegal gold mining. The region has seen an influx of fortune-hunters trying to
make a living from the trade. Prosecutors say young girls are lured to the area by women who travel around
offering them jobs in shops or as domestic helpers, but that the girls often end up being forced to work as
prostitutes in local bars. Last month, the charity Save the Children said that more than 1,100 underage girls
were being used as sexual slaves in illegal mining camps in the south-eastern Peruvian state of Madre de
Dios. [HSEC-3.10; Date: 4 October 2011; Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-
15165339]
• Albania Arrests Kosovo Albanian Wanted In US On Human Trafficking Charges: Albanian police say
they have arrested an ethnic Albanian from neighboring Kosovo who is wanted from the United States on
human trafficking charges. A police statement identifies the man as 53-year-old Hektor Kelmendi, alias
Deme Nikqi. It says he was arrested Tuesday at the northeastern Morini border crossing upon coming from
Kosovo with a Serb passport. The statement says an international arrest warrant was issued for Kelmendi
following the May 2010 charges in a New York court. It says Albanian authorities are completing
documentation for his extradition. [HSEC-3.10; Date: 4 October 2011; Source:
http://www.startribune.com/world/131069463.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed]
• Lawyer Throws Down Challenge In People Smuggler Case [Australia]: The lawful right of refugees to
smuggling laws. A lawyer for an accused people smuggler says his client had not committed a crime come to Australia will be tested in the state's highest court as part of a challenge to Australia's people
because the people he was transporting by boat to Australia had a right to come and apply for refugee
status under international laws. Barrister Michael Crawford-Fish is challenging a decision by a District Court
judge to allow a jury to determine the case against his client. He says the prosecution has failed to prove
that the passengers had ''no lawful right'' to come to Australia. … Mr Crawford-Fish said people had a right
to come to Australia under the Refugee Convention and claim asylum and Australia had an obligation to
protect them. ''The Refugee Convention requires much more of us than simply requiring that people
seeking our protection from asylum carry a visa,'' he said. He said this right to seek asylum was also
protected in the Migration Act. [HSEC-3.10; Date: 4 October 2011; Source:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/lawyer-throws-down-challenge-in-people-smuggler-case-20111003-
1l5e1.html]
• Human Trafficking Scheme Bound For Australia Foiled In West Java: The West Java Police say that
with the assistance of the Sukabumi Immigration Office they uncovered a plan to smuggle 42 Iranian and
two Iraqi citizens from Palabuhan Ratu, Sukabumi, to West Australia. "Two boats were awaiting the
immigrants in the Palabuhan Ratu area," police human smuggling task force commander Comr. Fatma Noer
said Tuesday….. She said the group of immigrants consisted of 32 males and 12 females, with 10 of the 44
under the age of 10. She added that 16 people surrendered their passports, while the rest said that they
were waiting for assistance despite claiming that they did in fact own their own passports. Sukabumi
immigration officer Ketut Arief said that the two Iraqi citizens had entered Indonesia … The immigrants were
temporarily detained at the Sukabumi immigration office. [HSEC-3.10; Date: 4 October 2011; Source:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/10/04/human-trafficking-scheme-bound-australia-foiled-west-
java.html]
• Girl From Hajo Rescued In Haryana [India]: A minor Assamese girl hailing from Hajo was rescued from
Shahpur village of Jind district in Haryana on Monday. The 17-year-old girl, who was forced to change her
religion, was rescued by a joint team of Haryana Police and the non-government organization Shakti Vahini.
She was lured by one person in Assam on the pretext of marrying her. He brought her to Delhi and sold to
one Rakesh of Jind for Rs 25,000,[$507] according to Rishi Kant of Shakti Vahini. Rakesh married her
forcefully and she was allegedly subjected to slavery. The victim's family reported that she had gone
missing from her house on April 25. They approached the Hajo Police Station in May. The Anti-Human
Trafficking Unit Assam Police informed Shakti Vahini to assist the parents of the trafficked victim to rescue
their daughter. [HSEC-3.10; Date: 4 October 2011; Source:
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=oct0511/at09]
• 50 Underage Girls 'Sold Weekly' As Sex In Kenya: At least 50 girls, aged between ten and 15, are sold
every week to tour operators and tourist hotels at Sh60,000 [$587] each as sex workers and to star in
pornographic movies, a report claims. The report released on Tuesday by the International Peace Institute
(IPI) says that the girls are trafficked or smuggled to Nairobi from North Eastern Province and Somalia. …
"Vehicles that transport miraa from Kenya to Somalia return loaded with young girls and women, who end
up in brothels in Nairobi or who are shipped to Mombasa and destinations outside Kenya," the report says.
The report titled Termites at Work: Transitional Organised Crime and State Erosion in Kenya was compiled
by IPI executive director Mr Peter Gastrow. The report says the girls are taken to massage parlors or
beauty shops, where contacts from tour operators and hotels come to select the ones they wish to take as
sex workers. … The report says the trafficked children are then taken to scheduled villas in Mombasa where
sex tourism thrives. … Mombasa is a destination for people trafficked from as far as Uganda, Somalia,
Tanzania and Ethiopia. [HSEC-3.6; Date: 4 October 2011; Source:
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000044145&cid=4&ttl=50%20underage%20girls%20
%E2%80%98sold%20weekly%E2%80%99%20as%20sex%20in%20Kenya]
• Mali Police Arrest "Human Trafficking Network" Between Mail, Lebanon: A man and woman in Mali
were arrested on Tuesday and charged with "human trafficking" mainly of young women…. The trafficking
was occurring between Lebanon and Mali. … The two were arrested following a complaint made by a
human rights organization to the moral police in Bamako. The president of the organization accused the
two people of "human trafficking and the use of physical violence and sexual exploitation" of Mali women
who are sent to Lebanon to work as house maids. In a call with AFP, a Mali woman working in Lebanon
said that she came to Lebanon after being "promised to receive 3000 Euros [$3,994] in three years by
working as a house maid" … The woman also said that she was raped and "not getting any treatment when
I am sick." [HSEC-3.10; Date: 4 October 2011; Source: http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/16624-mali-
police-arrest-human-trafficking-network-between-mali-lebanon]
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