Venezuelan authorities have detained two people in connection with trafficking people to Trinidad and Tobago for sex under the guise of offering the victims jobs.
The authorities detained a 19-year-old woman in the state of Monagas and a man, 42, in the state of Delta Amacuro for human trafficking.
On Wednesday, Tucupita-based media outlet Tane Tanae credited the director of the Venezuelan Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations Corps (CICPC), Douglas Rico, for the information.
The article said the case became known through complaints and interviews with one of the victims' family. The authorities were informed that the victim was waiting to be transferred by people who offered them work in TT.
Investigators found out that the detainees offered the victims jobs in commercial premises in TT, indicating that they would be responsible for paying personal costs.
The suspects later held their victims captive for two days in a shelter in Tucupita.
The article added that victims were taken to Trinidad, where they were sexually exploited.
The suspects also took the victims' money for the trip, accommodation, and per diem (daily allowances to cover business travel expenses).
"After they settled the debt with their perpetrators, they left them abandoned in that country," the article said.
The authorities also seized a Keeway Arsen II motorbike as evidence.
The detainees were placed under the order of the Public Ministry of the Criminal Judicial District.
The article said the CICPC continues investigations to determine how many people are involved in the crime, to find and detain them so they can face the Venezuelan justice system.
No further information was given about the victims.
In February 2022, the Prime Minister in the House of Representatives quoted from a 2021 article titled - Venezuela's Other Plight: Sex Trafficking in Trinidad and Tobago, which said the demand for sex and prostitution in TT was being driven by a high rate of local consumption, "especially in the borough of Chaguanas."
The article was written by the Venezuela investigative unit of an independent Latin American publication, InSight Crime.
Dr Rowley's comments about the sex trafficking ring operating between both countries came in response to the remarks made by an Opposition MP in the Parliament about a shooting by the TT Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard had opened fire on a boat full of illegal migrants, killing a one-year-old Venezuelan.
Rowley was calling on the Opposition to "cease and desist" its verbal attack on the Coast Guard, adding the Opposition should have been more concerned about the fate of women being illegally trafficked into Trinidad for prostitution.
InSight Crime had reported that victims from beyond coastal hotspots had been targeted. It said women and minors from states far and wide - including Venezuela's capital district, Anzoátegui, Monagas and Lara - have reportedly ended up working in TT's illegal sex trade.
A research paper titled Trafficking of Women and Children for Sexual Explo
