Six Israel citizens have been arrested after they were suspected of running a child sex trafficking ring in Colombia, according to the Latin American country's attorney general's office.
In all, fourteen Israelis and two Colombians were involved in operating the alleged network. The detainees include a Colombian police officer who allegedly passed classified information to one of the suspected ringleaders, Israeli Mor Zohar.
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The ring members provided Israeli travellers, mainly businessmen and recently discharged soldiers, with "tourism packages" that included prostitutes, some of whom were minors.
5/5 #ATENCIÓN 8 presuntos responsables de explotación y esclavitud sexual en #Colombia fueron capturados: 6 israelíes, entre ellos uno de los señalados cabecillas, Mor Zohar; y 2 colombianos, entre ellos un policía que presuntamente entregó información privilegiada de operativos pic.twitter.com/TpUzudDDU6
— Fiscalía Colombia (@FiscaliaCol) 9 декабря 2018 г.
The teens and children reportedly received between 200,000 pesos ($63) to 400,000 pesos ($126) in return for sexual services.
They even were forced to join a WhatsApp group called "Purim", which was apparently named for the drunken celebrations related to a Jewish holiday of the same name, according to the Ynet news website.
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The members of the trafficking ring are currently facing charges of murder, conspiracy, human trafficking, trafficking in minors, drug manufacturing, providing prostitution services, and money laundering.
3/3 #ATENCIÓN Allanados bienes a nombre de presuntos proxenetas, como Balneario Benjamín(#Taganga), Hotel Casa Medellín y hostal Casa Iftach(#Bogotá). Propiedades habrían servido de hospedaje a turistas israelíes que habrían auspiciado explotación sexual y consumo estupefacientes pic.twitter.com/X4dpDAj7Yf
— Fiscalía Colombia (@FiscaliaCol) 9 декабря 2018 г.
On his Twitter page, the office of the Colombian attorney general posted a video of what it claimed were properties used by the sex trafficking ring.
The network’s members used a number of properties including a spa in Santa Marta, a hostel in Bogota, and a building in Colombia's second-largest city of Medellin.
