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Border guards uncover human trafficking network



By TRACY CLARK
News Staff Reporter
Jun 21 2006


Six Korean women, who were potential victims of human trafficking, have returned to Korea after they were discovered hiding in a bush at the Osoyoos border crossing.

The women, ranging in age between 20-28, were hiding in the bushes with four other Koreans planning to cross the border at about 9 a.m. on June 12.

The group was discovered by the RCMP’s International Border Enforcement Team (IBET). Four people, consisting of a middle-aged man and woman, 20-year-old man and 35-year-old woman were being smuggled across the border, said Cpl. Norm Massie, IBET’s human trafficking awareness co-ordinator. This group had paid about $1,000 to be smuggled across the border.

The remaining six women were victims of human trafficking. They have since returned to Korea at their own request, said Massie.

Three people have been arrested by U.S. authorities in connection with the incident. Charges have not yet been laid, he said.

The women told investigators that they were going to the U.S. to find a “better life,” said Massie. They had done research on the Internet and contacted a group offering U.S. visas. The women paid their own way to Canada and were told they had to sneak across the border, where their contacts would be waiting.

“It’s all covert,” he said. “They are aware that they are crossing into the U.S. illegally.”

The human traffickers, usually part of organized crime, according to Massie, told the women they would work in restaurants and a massage parlour in Los Angeles to pay off their $3,000-$5,000 fee for entering the U.S. The women were told they could return to Korea if they did not like their new life or jobs in the U.S., he said.

“It’s all painted up to be roses,” he said.

However, he said it’s a matter of “you owe me, I own you.”

The women would be forced into some form of prostitution, working at a massage parlour, for example, where the traffickers would take a majority of the proceeds. The women would be paid very little for their services.

“The goal for traffickers is to make as much (money) as possible,” he said, adding that they often have significant influence over the women and make threats to their lives and their families if they try to leave.

RCMP do not know how often this type of human trafficking takes place in Canada, said Massie.

RCMP and border agents are trained to watch for this type of activity. IBET recently released a 13-minute video discussing human trafficking that is used as part of its training process. There is also an effort to inform the public, especially those in border communities like Osoyoos, to watch for suspicious activities.

Canada has often been an entrance point for people smuggling into the U.S. because Koreans do not need a visa to come to Canada. They do need a visa, however, to enter the U.S., said Massie.

The six women were the first victims of human trafficking located in Canada since Citizenship and Immigration Canada implemented a new temporary residence visa process. Last month CIC released the newly developed guidelines that would allow victims of human trafficking a visa to stay in Canada until they felt safe enough to return to their own country.

The visa allows victims to be placed in housing, receive health care and have access to counselling services. The initial visa would last for a couple of days while investigators determine if they are indeed victims of trafficking. If so, they could stay in the country while waiting to testify at a trial or until they felt safe enough to return home.

The women are treated as victims, not as offenders, he said.

The six women involved in this case, however, did not accept the temporary residence visas and chose to return Korea.

The four Koreans who had paid to be smuggled into the U.S. are not considered victims and do not receive this same service, however, said Massie.

They are dealt with through the Canadian Border Services Agency. All four were returned to Korea.

This is the second time in six months that Koreans have been caught smuggling across the U.S. border in the Okanagan. Last November U.S. border patrol officers found 12 South Koreans crammed into a vehicle 24 kilometres east of Osoyoos. A B.C. man of Korean decent, was arrested and charged with people smuggling.

At the time, Steven Garrett, assistant chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, said the area, because of its rural nature, is a popular target for people smugglers.

“We usually average three to four incidents per year,” he said.