Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-7 chief Col. Ireneo Dalogdog. (Photo courtesy of Cebu City Traffic Office)
CEBU CITY – The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7) will file human trafficking charges against four persons, including an Iran national, who were nabbed in an operation Wednesday night that led to the rescue of seven female victims.
Col. Ireneo Dalogdog, CIDG-7 chief, said a tipster informed his office about “parties” being organized by an Iranian and his three conspirators that involved women aged 18 to 25 years old.
He said the Iranian and his cohorts were arrested in a mall in Mandaue City and the authorities rescued the seven women who were paid to join the party.
“The modus operandi were to invite these female victims to a party. And if you go there, you will be given outright with PHP1,000. If a customer likes her, then that’s the time that they will engage in an illicit activity and will get paid with PHP6,000 to PHP7,000,” Dalogdog said in a press conference on Thursday.
He said most of the women rescued by the CIDG-7 and the women’s desk were “willing victims” who were told to meet up in a mall for a party in Lapu-Lapu City.
The 35-year-old Iranian citizen used to manage a surplus vehicle business in Metro Cebu but because of the economic downturn as a result of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, he resorted into organizing "parties".
Dalogdog said the police are directed not to identify the foreigner and his three cohorts who are facing charges in violation of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
Meanwhile, the rescued women were turned over to an institution for processing before their release. (PNA)
