:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/D2W3F6H5W5DOHB5TDUWALOYTBM.jpeg "‘Red Dragon’ members in preliminary detention: New lights on human trafficking case in La Molina | plain | PNP | Lima | Police Security | La Molina | Red Dragon | Ministry of Public | lime")
They escaped from a human trafficking network. They arrived bleeding and agitated near the Villa Maria school in the urbanization of La Planici (La Molina) looking for help. A security guard informed the police. On Saturday, just after two in the afternoon, the police received an alert. Minutes later, the victims threw themselves onto a patrol car from the local police station, repeating words of help in English. “Please help. Please help.”
Jiron Las Lagunas 275 is where 41 foreigners with Malaysian citizenship and one Taiwanese national were arrested by eight people. ‘Red Dragon’. Six of those arrested – after an operation carried out by the police and the Ministry of Public Affairs – have Taiwanese citizenship, while the rest are Peruvian citizens.
When law enforcement officers arrived at the home, they first encountered the guys, who realized they were security guards hired to protect the property. Inside, on the first floor, police identified the first 16 victims along with the six accused criminals. In the second phase, 24 more Malaysians and one foreigner from Taiwan were found.
They were detained for seven days
Those arrested were Liao Jia-wei (37), Chau Tung-yu (44), Chen Bin-jen (31), Guo Bing-wei (36), Chang Hung-jui (39) and Lin Lin-long (42). As well as Luis Alfredo Arango Nunez (25) and Macol Jair Sumbitas Zapata (42). The latter would have tried to block the access of the authorities.
On Monday morning, the judge of Lima Est, Julisa Martel Guerrero, opened a preliminary detention hearing on the outright detention requested by the prosecutor Ronald Franco Alcantara. It sought seven days in custody – the maximum established by the Criminal Procedure Code – under flight risk arguments and given the likelihood of delays in investigations.
A few hours later, the judge ruled in favor of the request of the representative of the Ministry of Public Affairs. The action involved foreigners and two Peruvians. It should be noted that Article 129 of the Peruvian Penal Code establishes aggravated human trafficking cases – as indicated by the responsible prosecutor. It carries a term of imprisonment of not less than twelve nor more than twenty years and disqualification.
Labor frauds and forced labour
Among the foreigners identified by the mafia was a Malaysian national who entered the country on the afternoon of September 26. After approximately twelve hours on the KLM flight from Amsterdam (Holland), the passenger lost contact with his family. According to the prosecutor’s office, he allegedly said his trip was due to a job offer in Lima.
When the intervention was carried out and alerted to the situation, the officials of the Malaysian Embassy went to the scene and submitted a document alerting them to the disappearance of this foreign object. At that location, several suitcases were found with cell phones – even new ones – credit cards, a room that served as a ‘call center’, 15 thousand soles and 10 thousand dollars in cash.
