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ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/09 January) – Police on Wednesday filed charges before the City Prosecutor’s Office against five suspected illegal recruiters for violation of Republic Act 10364 otherwise known as the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012.
City police director Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro said Friday they were doing follow-up operations to arrest one of the five suspects, who remain at large.
Casimiro did not name the suspects and the victims except to say that the alleged illegal recruiters are all from this city while the victims are from Cagayan de Oro City.
He said the youngest among the victims is 21 years old and the oldest is 32 years old. They were recruited to work as bar girls.
He said the suspects were arrested last Monday by the city police’s Special Investigation Unit headed by Supt. Felixberto Martinez at Solis Drive, Barangay Sta. Maria.
He said the arrest came after the SIU received information about the presence of a group of people with unfamiliar faces in the area.
He added the suspects are detained at the Police Station 7 after signing a 15-day waiver to avail of their rights to preliminary investigation as provided for in the Revised Penal Code. (MindaNews)