Nearly 500 victims of human trafficking, including 236 miners, were rescued following an INTERPOL operation carried out simultaneously in Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. A total of 40 suspected traffickers have been arrested and will now be prosecuted for offenses such as trafficking in human beings, forced labor and exploitation of children. They are accused of forcing victims to engage in activities ranging from begging to prostitution, with little or no consideration for working conditions or human life.
In one case, a 16-year-old Nigerian girl was promised a job in Mali, which would allow her to take care of her family. She was taken in by a "godfather" who then forced her to prostitute herself to pay back her travel expenses. In another case, an alleged trafficker sold a 15-year-old man to forced labor and intercepted him just before the end of the transaction. The victim was found holding a blue plastic bag containing all their belongings.
In order to ensure that victims receive the necessary care after their rescue, the International Office for Migration (IOM) and several NGOs participated in interviews and post-operative treatment.
Operation Sparrowhawk took place under the umbrella of the Sahel project, an initiative funded by the German Foreign Ministry, which targets organized crime groups behind trafficking in human beings throughout the region.
Officials from INTERPOL's regional offices in Abidjan and Yaoundé helped coordinate the operation, which also included specialists from INTERPOL's Human Trafficking Unit at the headquarters of its General Secretariat in Lyon, France .
"In addition to the arrests, this operation opened a number of investigations to further disrupt criminal networks involved in human trafficking, highlighting the effectiveness of these operations via INTERPOL's international network," Yoro said. Traoré, police inspector at INTERPOL. National Central Office in Bamako.
https://www.interpol.int/News-and-media/News/2017/N2017-162
Well done! @AnarchoPirate