Several men who had been trafficked to Malaysia managed to escape and return to Cambodia with help from the Cambodian Embassy. AIM SWAT was asked by Phnom Penh Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Police (AHTJPP) to assist with the investigation, which resulted in the arrest of the three responsible for trafficking them.
The raid followed a short covert operation which confirmed that minors were being sold for sex at the location. During the raid, 3 minor Khmer girls were rescued, and one suspected trafficker was arrested.
Anti-Human Trafficking Protection (AHTJP) Police, along with AIM SWAT Officers swooped in to arrest 2 women suspected of trafficking young Cambodian women to China for marriage. The two survivors are currently receiving aftercare services and our AIM SWAT Legal Team is representing them throughout the legal process.
The raid was the culmination of a covert operation that lasted more than a week and resulted in the rescue of 3 minors and 3 adult women, and the arrest of one suspected trafficker.
Our latest AIM SWAT raid stemmed from a case where a 15 year old girl was rescued from a brothel by AHTJP and AIM SWAT earlier this year. She reported to AIM social workers that she had been sold for her virginity during the previous year and was now concerned her 13 year old sister would fall prey to the traffickers and also be sold.
On Tuesday, October 10th at around 8 PM, the Phnom Penh Department of Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Police (AHTJP) and AIM SWAT Team executed a raid at a brothel fronting as a massage parlor in Phnom Penh. The brothel was suspected of selling young Khmer girls for sex and, following a short-term surveillance operation, this information was confirmed.
During the raid, 3 suspected minors and 3 adults were rescued along with the arrest of a husband and wife pair suspected of trafficking. In interviews with the police, all 3 suspected minors shared that they were, in fact, under 18 years of age. The 6 females rescued also shared that they were being sold for sex to customers to the profit of the traffickers.
As we head into a new school year and the holiday season, we want to thank each of you – our amazing supporters – not just for your financial support, but for your faithful prayers for AIM.
When AIM SWAT rescues people from traffickers, the work is still not over. A long process follows for
the AIM legal team, which pursues each and every case to ensure justice for the victims of these terrible
crimes. This week we received great news about one particularly hard raid from last year. Three children were
rescued, each of whom had been sold 15-20 times per day by their traffickers.
The two traffickers – husband and wife – have now been sentenced to 7 years imprisonment each for
their crimes. In Cambodia, this is a fairly tough sentence, and it signals to our team that there is less
tolerance for sex trafficking, especially when children are involved. You can read the original post from the raid on February 17, 2016 below: