Human Trafficking

A years-long investigation by federal authorities has uncovered an elaborate “human smuggling network” that may have helped close to a thousand Chinese migrants cross the Canada-U.S. border via a public park just steps away from a busy B.C. port of entry, according to newly unsealed court documents. (Postmedia)

NEW YORK - For two years, she said she was kept in a single room with blacked-out windows. She had only one set of clothes, which she wore for weeks at a time without washing. And she barely had any contact with the outside world. (CNN)

EASTON, Pa. - A jury has convicted a Pennsylvania man of serial rape and human trafficking charges that could put him in prison for life. (Ottawa Sun)

North Bay police joined 45 other police services across Ontario to crack a huge case of human trafficking, say the OPP in a news release today. The Greater Sudbury Police Service was also involved. (The Bay Today)

More:

Province-wide blitz leads to 45 charges against 15 people including human trafficking

LONDON - UK police have launched a murder investigation after 39 people were found dead in a truck container at an industrial park in Essex, 30 kilometers east of London. One of the victims was in their teens. (CNN)

An Asian mafia con­nec­tion is fu­elling the mul­ti-mil­lion dol­lar world of sex slaves in Trinidad and To­ba­go, in­tel­li­gence sources close to the in­ves­ti­ga­tion have re­vealed to Guardian Me­dia. (St. Lucia News)

LONDON, ONT. -  London police are urging the public for any information in locating a suspect wanted for a number of human trafficking charges. Police say in June of this year, they started an investigation into the trafficking of a 16-year-old girl that went on for about a year and a half. (CTV)

TORONTO - A violent human trafficker admitted he preyed on and exploited teenage girls, using promises of luxury cars and violence to get them to work as escorts. (Toronto Sun)

In a press release on the lawsuit released Thursday, the women state that “Nygard lured and enticed young, impressionable, and often impoverished children and women with cash payments and false promises of lucrative modelling opportunities in order to assault, rape, and sodomize them. When the victims were not swayed by promises, many were drugged to force compliance with Nygard’s sexual desires.” (National Post)

OTTAWA - An unlicensed “touch therapy” spa in downtown Ottawa has been closed and a man arrested for human trafficking at the end of a lengthy investigation by the Ottawa Police Service Human Trafficking Unit. (Ottawa Citizen)