15 human trafficking victims rescued

THE multi-agency Sea-Based Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (SBATTF) has intercepted and rescued 15 victims of human trafficking in Zamboanga City, a top police official announced Wednesday.

Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) director Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo said the victims were rescued around 9 a.m. Monday at the local port.

De Ocampo said the rescue came after receipt of information by his command's Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) that some ten women were allegedly recruited to work abroad and are being kept in a house in the village of Rio Hondo.

Further information disclosed that the group will leave the city Monday via a commercial ferry that plies twice a week, the Zamboanga-Malaysia route via Sandakan, Sabah, De Ocampo said.

The victims were recruited to work in Jordan but would travel via Malaysia, he said.

However, De Ocampo said the SBATFF was able to rescue 15 victims when they launched the operation following coordination from the WCPD.

The victims were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, he said.

Investigation is ongoing to unmask the suspected illegal recruiter behind the recruitment of the victims, he added.