Santo Domingo, Mar 17 (EFE).- A total of 29 Dominican women, including 20 minors, who had become the victims of sex traffickers in the northern tourist town of Sosua, were rescued by Dominican and U.S. authorities after an undercover police investigation, the U.S. Embassy in this capital announced Tuesday.

 

As part of the investigation, authorities arrested Ruben Dario Sosa, Luis Manuel Martinez Castillo, Franklin Sanchez Garcia, Rolfi Ismael Ventura, Manuel Emilio Martinez, Idalia Luciano Ferrera and Aniberca Castro Peña, all Dominican citizens, who will be held in prison for the next year while the case makes its way through the courts.

 

The alleged sex traffickers transported the victims to what they had been told was a “sex party,” but in reality it was part of the undercover investigation, which resulted in the women’s rescue, the source said.

 

For their own protection, the minors were turned over to the National Childhood Advisory Agency, or Conani, which collaborated in the operation.

 

U.S. Ambassador James Brewster congratulated the Dominican government and the U.S. security agencies “for their commitment to the eradication of sexual exploitation and we thank them for their cooperation in this case.”

 

The diplomat said it was “inconceivable” that people, including boys and girls, could be sold for sex in the 21st century.

 

The U.S. government, he said, “will continue working with our partners both on the national level and abroad to eliminate this perverse practice.”

 

The investigation that led to the rescue of the women was a joint operation conducted by officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement working out of the embassy, the Dominican National Police, and the Special Unit for Human Trafficking within the Puerto Plata provincial Attorney General’s Office.

 

Puerto Plata is the province where Sosua is located. EFE