40 girls between 13 and 17 years old who were baited with an invitation to a pool party were kidnapped for auction to foreigners, according to El Financiero.
A person posing as a classmate from Nayarit contacted them with the invitation to the party in Puerto Vallarta. All the girls looked physically similar.
Juan Manuel Estrada Juárez, of the International Foundation for Stolen and Disappeared Children (FIND), said that the girls were being auctioned for $ 1,500.
However, a report alerted the authorities who went to the meeting point specified in the invitation to the girls. Most suspects fled the scene with an unspecified number arrested, including two women who were in charge of presenting the girls to buyers. Also, three individuals who serve as waiters and taxi drivers in Puerto Vallarta are being investigated for involvement in the human auctioning operation.
The human trafficking in Jalisco has three red centers, according to a study released by the UN; it is the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the Chapala, and Puerto Vallarta, these last two accommodate a significant number of foreigners with more cases recorded in the area of Puerto Vallarta.
For the president of FIND, trafficking in persons in Jalisco is a serious problem due to the geographical position of the state, Estrada assures that the traffickers act with impunity and even with the collaboration of authorities that warn them of operations.
The 40 rescued children did not suffer any physical damage during the hours they remained on the farm and were handed over to their families, after having to provide statements to authorities.
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