NBI nabs 10 human traffickers, illegal recruiters

AGENTS

of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have arrested 10 individuals for human trafficking and large scale illegal recruitment in two separate operations last week.

Apprehended by operatives of the NBI Anti-Human Trafficking Division on March 20 were Danica Bucaling, Mary Ann Buan and Jayvee Badeo.

The information on the alleged human trafficking violations of the subjects came from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement-US Homeland Security Investigations following its probe concerning a person who offers underaged Filipino girls for sexually-related shows online.

Charges for violation of the R.A 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act and RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 were filed against the subjects.

Three children were also rescued from the alleged syndicate. The victims were brought to the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Taguig.

In a subsequent operation, the NBI arrested Marie Alvarez, Mercy Galedo, Crisanto Dirroy, Joel Gallezo, Kristine Fernandez, Claudia Arnente and Ramona Castro for large scale illegal recruitment.

The subjects allegedly used a fake company named "Kairus Human Resource" to recruit applicants for overseas employment.

The charges against the seven alleged illegal recruiters came after their victims– who paid at least P240,000 each for their expected Japanese visas–verified from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration that Kairus was not among the listed accredited recruitment agencies in the country.

Charges for violation of R.A. 8042 or Syndicated and Large Scale Illegal Recruitment and Estafa were filed against the subjects.