/ 20 December 2006

Thai women said to be victims of human trafficking

Officials from the Royal Thai Embassy in Pretoria have arrived in Durban after the arrest of 26 Thai women who are alleged to have been brought into the country to become sex slaves, the Daily News reported Tuesday.

Discussions were under way between the embassy’s second secretary, Jeerasak Pomsuwan, and officials from the Organised Crime Unit, said a report carried on the IOL website.

Pomsuwan, who arrived in Durban late on Monday afternoon, said investigations were ongoing and that they needed to establish whether the women arrested were indeed victims of human trafficking.

The arrests occurred over the weekend when members of the Organised Crime Unit swooped on a club in Cato Street, Durban, and a brothel in Pinetown at the weekend. – Sapa