Costa Rican police busts child prostitution ring  

A 38-year-old woman has been arrested in Costa Rica on the suspicion of running a prostitution network that involved girls as young as 12 years old.  Laura Martinez Zuniga, who is Costa Rican, was detained last Thursday after a special police operation.

The prostitution business, which Martinez is suspected to have run, is believed to have been operating for the past five years and involved a number of minors.  Martinez allegedly ran the business exclusively for foreigners who would contact her by phone giving details of what they wanted.  The Costa Rican would then contact the girls and women involved by beeper and telephone and "deliver" them to the so-called "clients."

The business, which has been named "Prostitution Express" by the press in Costa Rica, was broken into by members of the OIJ (Organization of Judicial Investigation) after Martinez dropped off a 15-year-old girl at a hotel where an OIJ agent was posing as a client.  After the arrest, Martinez's home -- located in an area called Kuru in Purral de Goicoechea -- was raided by the police who are believed to have confiscated telephone numbers of clients. After the police initiative, the 15 year old confessed that her parents thought that she worked in a florists.

    It's believed that the prostitution network was difficult to break into as Martinez, would only receive clients who had been recommended by other ones.  The tightly run outfit charged $US 160 (50,200 Colones) for two hours with girls aged between 15 and 19 years old.

So far this year the OIJ has investigated 44 cases of aggravated pimping and 38 cases of the corruption of minors.  As a result of this work, 13 people have been detained by the Public Ministry.  In 30 percent of all cases investigated minors were detected.

In Costa Rica

Alien smuggling kingpin arrested 

Costa Rican law enforcement authorities on Nov. 1 arrested the "notorious alien smuggling kingpin" Gloria Abigail Nino Canales on corruption and fraudulent document charges.

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher congratulated the Costa Rican government in a Nov. 6 statement, saying that the arrest was the result of an intensive investigation by Costa Rican law enforcement.  "We applaud Costa Rica's commitment to fighting the scourge of human trafficking.  We hope that the Government of Costa Rica will continue to build on this success."

He added that the "growing criminal industry of alien smuggling is of increasing concern to the United States.  Alien smugglers take advantage of the plight of desperate people without regard for their basic human rights."

Boucher said the United States is encouraging other countries around the world "to sign the protocol on protocols on alien smuggling and trafficking in persons recently adopted in Vienna."