(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) The Dubai Police recently busted a gang that allegedly lured maids into running away from their sponsors and forced them into prostitution.
The police raided a rented traditional house in Deira, arrested its Asian mastermind and her two assistants and freed two victims.
The mastermind, herself a maid who had absconded from her sponsor's house, allegedly used to lure maids with the offer of finding them better-paying jobs. Once they agreed, she would help them flee their sponsors' houses by sending taxis to pick them up. They would then be brought to the traditional house, kept locked up and forced into prostitution.
Giving details, Colonel Abdul Rahim Mohammad bin Shafee, Director of the Anti-Organised Crime Department, said a UAE national woman informed the operations room of the Dubai Police that she had received a call from her absconding maid, L.N, that she was being held in a house in Deira and that she was forced into prostitution by Asian suspects.
The following day, the Department of Anti-Human Trafficking at the General Department of Criminal Investigation was informed by a police officer that he had received a telephone call from his absconding maid, B.T, who told him a similar story. Both phone calls came from the same number and the descriptions of the gang leader given by the victims also matched.
The police located the house which has several rooms housing bachelors and families. After obtaining a legal warrant from the Public Prosecution, the police raided the house, freed the victims and arrested all three Asian suspects.
Major Wisam Mohammed Aldarai, Director of the Anti-Human Trafficking Section, said one of the male suspects, aged 32, said he only guarded the house and collected money from customers. He would hand over the money to the mastermind and the other man who forced the women into prostitution. He said he was forced to work in the field since he had no money to pay back a loan.
The maid, who led the gang, denied that she had forced the victims into prostitution or helped them escape from their sponsors' houses, but admitted that she had an affair with the other male suspect.
Brig Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Director of the General Department of Criminal Investigation, called on the public to report human trafficking attempts or any other crimes on toll-free number (800-CID) 800243.
