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An undercover operation between the Police Department, the Immigration Department and the Department of Human Services has led to the arrest of a brothel operator in Corozal District.

Hilberto Triminus, a 50-year-old businessman, is facing one count of human trafficking for employing a 16-year-old Central American girl as a prostitute.

Police say when they raided Triminus’ brothel near mile 85 on the Northern Highway, they found six undocumented women and a girl.

Only one of the adults has so far come forward to accuse Triminus of keeping her at his establishment and working her there under harsh conditions.

The raid on Triminus’ took place in August and came after authorities conducted an undercover check to find out if Triminus was working the women at his brothel without their approval and consent.

Police say they also found 0.1 gram of crack cocaine at the establishment.

Triminus has been released on $500 bail and is to return to court on October 30.

Mario Arzu, the lead investigator for the Immigration Department, says the arrest of Triminus resulted from an extensive investigation. The women and the girl are all Central American immigrants who were brought into Belize and allegedly exploited for sex.

All the females have been placed in protective custody and will remain there until the end of the trial.

All those detained have given statements to the police and have agreed to testify.

The Human Trafficking Act, now classifies undocumented women working in bars and brothels as victims. not perpetrators.

Authorities no longer arrest them and charge them with breaking immigration laws, but encourages them to testify against the person or persons who brought them to Belize and forced them to work as sex slaves.

Arzu explained that the multi agency task force has been conducting a number of investigations to determine if other undocumented women across the country are working under similar conditions.

Arzu said that the task force is now focused on conducting investigations and interviews with victims. These are followed by arrests and prosecution.

According to Arzu, most women working as prostitutes in Belize under harsh conditions are tricked into coming to Belize.

These women and girls come from poor families and villages in Central America.

The perpetrators entice them to come to Belize, and once they are here, hold them in a form of bondage.

The victims are told that they can earn good money by working in classy restaurants and hotels.

Once they are in Belize however, their travel documents are taken away, and they are forced to pay back the money spent in bringing them to Belize.

Many of the women find themselves making loans to meet their living expenses and to send money back home.

Arzu says the victims are not only required to work as prostitutes in brothels but sometimes end up as field workers in the banana and citrus orchards.

Most cases do not reach the court for prosecution because the victims refuse to testify. Some prefer to return to their home country.

Prior to the enforcement of the Trafficking in Humans Law, the Immigration Department led the charge in raids of brothels across the country.

Undocumented immigrants, mostly women, were then taken into custody, charged and in several instances, sent to jail for breaking Immigration laws.

The multi-agency task force now meets regularly to determine their next move based on intelligence gathered by the Department of Human Services and the Immigration Department.

Once there is sufficient evidence to determine that an offence has been committed, the police leads the operation ending with the arrest of the suspected perpetrator.

Belize beefed up its enforcement in combatting human trafficking last year after the United States placed the country on its Tier-3 list.

At the time, the US accused Belize of not only failing to enforce the laws governing human trafficking, but also failing to meet minimum standards to fight human trafficking.