Transnational Crime Term Paper

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Human Trafficking

Transnational crime

Human trafficking is defined as the trade in humans for the purposes of forced labor, sexual slavery, or organ extraction Avdan, 2012.

It has been estimated that human trafficking is a lucrative industry that represents around $32 billion per year. Human trafficking is a serious crime that violates human rights. This trade affects almost all countries in the world. There are thousands of people (men, women, and children) who fall in the hands of traffickers. The traffickers are mostly located in the home country of the victims. The recruitment, transfer, transportation, receipt, or harboring of persons by using threats, coercion, force, abduction, deception, fraud, or power is also referred to as human trafficking. The traffickers are mainly intent in exploiting these persons for their own benefit.

Human trafficking should not be confused with people smuggling. People smuggling usually involves people hiring an individual who will transport them from their location to another location. The transportation is generally to a country where legal entry has been denied. In this (illegal) agreement, there is no deception, and the smuggled person is free once they arrive to their agreed destination. Human trafficking on the other hand, might not involve any travelling. Many people confuse trafficking with smuggling because of the term traffic. Majority of the victims of human trafficking are not allowed to leave once they reach their destination. The traffickers will force, coerce, or threaten them in order for them to work or provide sexual services. The main reasons for increase in human trafficking are lack of education, poverty and economic opportunities. People are easily fooled by the traffickers and promised better opportunities. With the promise of better opportunities and a means to eliminate poverty the victims have fallen prey to the traffickers and they are exploited once they arrive at their new destination Feingold, 2005()

Description of relevant cases for analyses

Amador Cortes-Meza was sentenced to serve forty years on charges of trafficking minors for sex. The accused was sentenced on March 24, 2011. The accused transported the minors for the purpose of prostitution, and he used coercion, force, and fraud to ensure the victims did as commanded. He used to smuggle the minors from Mexico and once they reached Atlanta, GA they would be beaten, and forced into performing over 20 acts of prostitution per night Department of Justice, March 24, 2011.

The children were tricked by the defendant into leaving their families with the promise of better opportunities in the United States. The defendant worked in collaboration with his brother and cousin. The brother and cousin would visit rural areas in Mexico and deceive young uneducated women into coming with them to the United States. The family members would pretend they are interested in the young girls romantically. This way they would convince the young girls to travel with them to the United States in order for them to have a life together. They would also promise the young girls that they would make money working cleaning homes or in restaurants.

Another case involves Abrorkhodja Askarhodjaev who was convicted in May 2009. The defendant was a member of a racketeering unit that had conducted its activities for over a decade. The unit would traffic people from Philippines, Central Asia, Dominican Republic, Eastern Europe and other countries. They used false information to lure the victims to the United States. The victims would be forced to work in various jobs across fourteen states, and they would all live overcrowded apartments that had exorbitant rents. The victims were threatened with deportation back home or withholding their wages. The defendant was charged together with 11 co-defendants for the crime of forced labor, identity theft, corporate employment tax evasion, visa fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. The defendant made arrangements for the recruitment and exploitation of the foreign workers. The majority of the workers were recruited with false promises in regards to their terms of work, nature of employment, and working conditions. Once the workers were in the United States, the enterprise ensured it maintained their labor by threatening the victims with deportation.

Analyses

Amador Cortes-Meza would obtain false documents for the young girls and smuggle them to the United States. Once they arrived in the United States, the victims would be housed together, and the co-conspirators monitored them in turns. The defendant had drivers who would transport the victims from the houses to the client's residence where they would be forced to engage in commercial sex. Refusal to engage in prostitution was mostly met with threats and the victims been beaten.

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The victims' families would also be threatened with physical harm. All the proceeds of prostitution would be shared between the drivers and the co-conspirators. The young girls would not receive any of the money. The young girls did not have an option as they were not free in the United States, and they would be threatened or beaten if they refused to participate in prostitution.

The defendant violated the fundaments human rights of the young girls by denying them freedom. The girls did not have a choice as they were forced into prostitution by the defendant. The money earned from prostitution was only shared between the defendant and the drivers. Preying on the young and vulnerable girls provided the defendant with easy targets for human trafficking and sexual slavery. Since the girls were uneducated and came from a poor background it was easy to force them into prostitution once they arrived in the United States. The defendants would control the victim's daily life, and they would not allow any of the victim's to go anywhere without his permission. This way the defendant was able to monitor and control the victims while ensuring that they do not speak to outsiders about their situation.

The defendant Amador Cortes-Meza pleaded guilty to multiple charges human smuggling and sex trafficking offenses. He was found guilty by the jury on all 19 counts and was sentenced to 40 years in a federal prison, and five years of supervision after his release. The trial lasted around two weeks. The young girls were easily victimized because of their illegal status, fear of law enforcement that was instilled by the traffickers, and their unfamiliarity with the United States laws. The victim's lack of knowledge prevented them from coming forth to report the heinous crimes they have been suffering.

In order to convince the victims to testify the justice department had to provide them with immigration status. This way the victims would be safe in the knowledge that they would not be attacked or harmed by the defendant's allies. Another problem was the fact that the defendant operated in hidden corners of the country. This made it difficult for the authorities to bust the prostitution ring. The traffickers also operated in secrecy and the members of the trafficking ring were loyal to their leader.

In the case against Abrorkhodja Askarkhodjaev, the defendant was convicted of trafficking people and engaging them into forced labor. The victims would be housed in crammed apartments where they would be charged exorbitant rents. This ensured that the defendant maintained the victims under his control as they would not afford to move out. Charging exorbitant rents and expenses meant that the victims would remain under the defendant as their paychecks would always be in the negative. The workers had to repay their debt to the defendant, purchase a ticket home, or afford to pay their own living expenses. The victims would also be threatened with deportation if they refused to perform the work allocated. The victims would also be threatened with adverse immigration consequences.

Depriving the victims their fundamental rights and coercing the victims was modern-day slavery, which is not tolerable. The victims were heavily indebted to the defendant, and they would never be able to repay their debt. This way the defendant would be assured that the victims would forever be working for him and his illegal enterprise. Restricting the victims from receiving any mail also ensures that the victims did not communicate with other people regarding their situation.

The authorities had a problem discovering this crime as the defendant used a legal company that was involved in the securing labor for other companies. Having a legal labor company ensured that the defendant was able to conduct his illegal trafficking without been discovered. Restricting the victims to his apartments and exorbitant expenses prevented them from having social lives as they could not afford. The defendant also restricted any mails from reaching the victims. This kept the victims in the dark, and they could not communicate with the outside world. Any mails would be scrutinized by the defendant and destroyed.

Conclusion

Human trafficking is a serious crime that is still prevalent to this day. The victims are normally uneducated and naive persons who are genuinely searching for better opportunities in foreign countries. Poverty and lack education is the main cause of human trafficking. The victims fall prey to the traffickers who promise them….....

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