the connection bay of an international network

Gerardo Monforte / [email protected]

The federal judicial system of the province of Chubut investigates the links between an alleged international traffic network and a bi-citizen woman domiciled in Bahía Blanca, which the gendarmerie had stopped in recent days in Trelew, while she " was watching "four young Paraguayans on a trip to Chile, where they were going to explode badually.

The investigators also badociate the defendant -paraguaya / Chilean and 30-year-old to the possible ramifications of the criminal organization in Punta Alta, where she lived before settling in our city, since she was able to discover "La Nueva".

Due to the results of this operation, Rawson Federal Judge Guillermo Lleral has continued in pretrial detention Liliana Alcaraz, who has been living in the vicinity of the San Francisco de Asís bus terminal for nearly three years.

The maneuver was discovered – almost by accident – on January 12, when a group of gendarmes checked documents from pbadengers of a group that was bound for Comodoro Rivadavia, during a check by kilometer 1448 of the national road 3, at the height of Trelew.

Seeing the uniform, one of the four victims broke down. In the middle of crying and a tense situation, he badured them that they were transferred against their will three days ago "by a human trafficking network whose final destination is uncertain "but surely in Chile.

The other 3 rescued girls declared themselves in the same situation and also reported that Alcaraz was responsible for driving them to trans-national lands. For this reason, the acting magistrate ordered the arrest of the woman.

General Commander Manuel Caraballo, who is in charge of the Gendarmerie Region V, based in our city and in much of Patagonia, said the 4 victims were 25 to 28 years old and included in the National Rescue Program. Accompaniment of victims victims of the crime of trafficking.

In the opinion of Caraballo, responsible for Neuquén, Rio Negro, Chubut, south of the province of Buenos Aires and La Pampa, the group operates in an "organized" way and would be composed of many members.

"They recruit Paraguayan citizens in the department of Caaguazú, Paraguay, bring them to Argentina, hold them for some time in Buenos Aires, then send them to the south of the country to cross them in Chile, where they are badually exploited in discotheques of Punta Arenas. ", confirmed the head of the gendarmerie.

"Once in Buenos Aires, they embark in Bahía Blanca, where a female person (de Alcaraz) approaches the group and plays the role of guardian or guide for the victims," ​​he added. .

The aforementioned force personnel identified other victims of trafficking during the procedure on Route 3.

"Alcaraz has been arrested for being a member of this human trafficking network, while in Chile another Paraguayan woman is being investigated." were going to be badually exploited, because one of them collapsed, took refuge as a protected witness and recounted what happened, " he declared.

They work with a post system

The 4 victims arrived in our city by bus from Retiro station along with another alleged trafficker who apparently would have returned to Buenos Aires after "delivering" him to Alcaraz.

"Bahía Blanca would be the ideal place to set up a post system for the transfer of victims from northern Argentina and neighboring countries, such as Bolivia and Paraguay, before the exploitation. women, "they explained to the headquarters of the gendarmerie. through a press release.

Thanks to the images recorded by the cameras of the local bus terminal, it was established that Alcaraz had hosted the girls at these facilities, where they had made a transfer and were together continuing their journey in the south of Argentina. , with as final destination Chile.

On the basis of these data, it is impossible for young foreigners to have worked under duress in Bahía Blanca.

The recruitment of women in Caaguazú was done through false job offers for domestic work, seamstresses, waitresses or other jobs in southern Argentina and Chile.

Until now, according to information provided to the gendarmerie by the Chilean police investigation, trafficked women in Punta Arenas have not been saved.

"The majority of victims of international human trafficking are captured by a member of their community, usually a woman," said Caraballo.

"In Buenos Aires, there are women in the colonies and they make them work, then they bring them to Bahia so that another person can take the post and cross them in Chile, because they have dual nationality", as in the case of Alcaraz.

Across different border crossing points, the gendarmerie has recorded Alcaraz transfers between Paraguay and Argentina, Argentina and Chile and Chile and Argentina.

"Charges have been registered at the international border, at the Cardenal Samoré level, and she has been staying in the Neuquén and Bariloche areas, and we are investigating to determine the possible (traffic-related) contacts that Alcaraz would have in these areas. places, "said the spokesman.

To that end, the court ordered the examination of two cell phones worn by the woman domiciled in Bahia. They were sent to the gendarmerie of Bariloche, where they work with the Ufed-Touch system, which allows an in-depth badysis of the phones.

It is expected that the outcome of this study will be known sometime next week, with which researchers could progress to other links of the organization.

In Chubut and in pre-trial detention

Alcaraz, as confirmed by the gendarmerie, is detained in a prison in the province of Chubut and has no criminal record in Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. In any case, it became apparent that in 2004, our city's No. 1 prosecutor's office had initiated a procedure for injuries and threats.

The woman, who also had a house in Ingeniero White, appears as a "housewife" and even lived before her arrest with a man who, for the moment, said Caraballo, is not the object ;investigation.

Other judicial sources have informed "La Nueva". Alcaraz worked "at night", both in a local of our city and in another of Punta Alta.

Liliana Alcaraz – from behind – when finishing her detention in front of the gendarmerie.

From this discovery and his home in Bahia, the local gendarmes are investigating the current situation of our environment in relation to this crime, even if for the moment no raid has been ordered.

When Judge Lleral asked for the location of Alcaraz's home in Bahia, Gendarmería explored the web pages of the local escorts and said that he "existed links with Paraguayan citizens who had been brought in in this area to prostitute them ".

"They are being trafficked and they are published on these fictitious name escort pages," said Caraballo.

The maneuver is an offense under Law 26,364, which defines the crime of trafficking in persons, integrates it into the Penal Code (Articles 145 bis and ter) and establishes the jurisdiction of the Federal Justice in its investigations and prosecutions.

Trafficking refers to the offering, attraction, transfer, reception or reception of persons for the purpose of exploitation, either on the national territory or to or from other countries.

The standard defines trafficking by highlighting actions, means, and purposes, and includes various exploitation objectives: badual, work, or illegal extraction of human organs or tissues.

In the case of persons under the age of 18, the means (deception, fraud, violence, threat, intimidation or coercion) must not be proven.

The consent of the victim shall in no way constitute a cause for the release of criminal, civil or administrative liability of the authors, participants, co-operators or instigators.

When Bahia was "capital" of a controversy

Mid-2016, a special report from La Nueva. This triggered controversy. For some specialists in criminology outside the city, Bahía Blanca could be accused of being "the capital of human trafficking".

This statement quickly received responses and criticisms from various local sectors, such as financial and intermediary organizations in the region, who understood that the claim was exaggerated.

As part of this memo, the media lawyer Raquel Hermida Leyenda – subject specialist and chair of the Network of Containment against gender-based violence and crimes against badual integrity and minors – positioned Bahia for this way for its geographical determinant and its long history ".

"It's like Tandil with the abuses, in the case of Bahia, the port and the entrance to Patagonia are decisive," he said.

And he added that various international organizations, such as Missing Children, with their annual statistics, have placed our city on the path to this crime.

"I have studied the problem of being trafficked abroad and the name of Bahia still appears.At different congresses, like in London or Spain, Bahia always appears.It is identified by international organizations.When you perform a study on trafficking, You know which cities of Italy, Spain, France and even the United States have the organization, and in this world, Bahia and Patagonia are marked, they are the center of the biggest traffic of the country, "confirmed Legend.

In the same spirit, the lawyer Zaida Gatti, responsible for the national program of rescue and accompaniment of the victims of the criminal acts of the trade, qualified Bahia of "red zone", to the point that At the time, it was the creation of these lands, which constituted an office of this dependency of the Department of Justice of the Nation, a measure which ultimately did not prosper.

Those who did not share the nickname "capital of the slave trade" explained that other cities – for example, Mar del Plata – more complex and popular, as well as a port, would inevitably have a larger traffic of women for the purpose of badual exploitation, although possibly with a less public importance.

However, as they said, in Bahia, the situation has become more "visible" because of the existence of an increased attack against this scourge, not only with agents of different forces – provincial and federal – in appointments or houses of prostitution, but with the convictions of pimps and "traffickers" in the judicial field.