Police unit to deal with human trafficking

By REBECCA KUKU
THE Police Transnational Crimes Unit will be looking into the alleged international prostitution ring in the nation’s capital.
Crimes Director Joel Simatab said that he would release an official statement later today.
However, a senior officer from the TCU, who did not wish to be named, said that investigating international prostitution in the country was their responsibility.
The officer said the unit was willing to look into the allegations, but the problem was that other agencies and divisions wanted to act on the matter when what they needed to do was refer such cases to the TCU.
“We are here and we are ready to work with Immigration and Citizenship Authority (ICA), Labour and International Organisation for Migration (PNG) to address human trafficking issues in the country,” he said.
The officer said that there had been several other such investigations done in the past.
“Human trafficking for sexual exploitations is a crime, and we deal with any cases that cross into the country’s borders, meaning, if these women are being brought into the country to provide prostitution services, then it is within our powers to investigate that,” he said.
The officer made an appeal to anyone who had more information on the subject or knew of anyone from outside of PNG, who were part of human trafficking or being exploited to call the Transnational hotline on 322 7109.
This comes after a woman, believed to be part of a human trafficking ring for the purpose of providing prostitution services for prominent Papua New Guineans, was arrested early this week.