(Updated, 4:49 p.m.) CEBU CITY—Nine Koreans have been detained after they were allegedly caught engaging in sexual services with young Cebuanas who worked in an escort service.
Jongnam Ham, Munsu Lee, Joontae Kim, Dongkil Kim, Jong in Han, Hosik Park, Jae Gyu Kim, Namgyun Shin and Byeonghae Park were at the stockage of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) at the Capitol site pending filing of charges for violating section 11 of Republic Act 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012 which prohibits anyone from “engaging the services of a trafficked person.”
Qualified trafficking charges would also be filed against three other Korean nationals who recruited the victims. The three, who remained at large were only identified as Choi, Andy, and Kim.
“We continue monitoring cases of sex tourism in Cebu,” said Special Investigator Arnel Pura of the NBI-7.
“The suspects are part of what we called sex tourism which preys on Cebuanas. We received information about their operations so we hatched a plan to arrest them,” Pura said.
He said the victims aged 19 to 21 were hired as escorts by Choi, Andy, and Kim who later enticed them to have sex with Korean tourists in exchange for P2,000 each per day.
The NBI agents conducted surveillance operations at the place where the suspects stayed.
Pura said they coordinated with the management of the hotel and eventually managed to talk to the victims.
“When we confirmed that the victims were really exploited, we arrested the suspects because we already had a basis to do so. They used women who are victims of human trafficking,” he explained.
NBI-7 agents arrested the nine Koreans inside a hotel in Barangay (village) Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu City on Mactan Island, Cebu on Saturday.
They didn’t resist arrest.
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