Crime & Punishment of Sunday, 31 July 2016

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Ghana based Togolese arrested in US for sex trafficking

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An 18-year-old Togolese indicted for engaging in sex trafficking business with teenage girls has been arrested in El Paso, Texas in the United States of America on Wednesday.

The man whose name was given as Edema Missiadan as reported by Associated Press is suspected to be a Togolese refugee in Ghana, while fact is yet to be established if the two girls age 15 are also Togolese or Ghanaians.

Arrest

Edema, in the process of marketing the girls, according to report, posted their images online which attracted an investigator who invited the unsuspecting Edema and the girls to a motel at El Paso, Texas on Wednesday evening where his arrest was initiated.

After he was questioned, he claimed the girls were transported from Phoenix to meet their prospective ‘customer’, but was mute on the nationality of the girls.

Edema, according to report, has since been jailed without bond on a sex trafficking charge.

World Day Against Human Trafficking

Human trafficking has no doubt become a source of concern across the world thus making July 30 World Day Against Human Trafficking.

Research by Labour Organisation indicate that Africa has the second highest of persons in modern slavery, with overwhelming figure of 3.7 million, while Asia and the Pacific lead the chart with 11.7 million persons.

There are 1.5 million persons enslaved in the developed world, according to data provided by Free the Slaves, an organization working to free people in modern slavery around the world.