Cops suspect human trafficking

Police are investigating what may be the first real evidence of human trafficking - the report of a 14-year-old boy that he was drugged, tied and put in a boat to be taken somewhere.

The boy, a pupil of a school in Princes Town, escaped on the Gran Chemin Beach, in Moruga.

The Moruga police confirmed that the boy went to them for help last Thursday night. The coastline in Moruga has long been a point of entry for drugs and guns.

In the past three years, according to Special Branch officers, the coast has become the major point of contact for men coming by boat from South America, after braving the Atlantic Ocean from Africa's west coast countries.

Barrackpore police detectives are investigating the case, but declined to say if there were suspects. because "it is a sensitive case".

The Express found the boy and his family yesterday. They asked not to be identified for fear they would be found.

His father said his son entered a registered taxi outside the Princes Town school.

"There were three pupils from another school inside the car. My son said there were no regular taxis on the stand, so when this car came up he went inside," he said.

The father of two said three passengers dropped off along the way, leaving his son by himself in the front seat.

"My son said the next thing he knew, the place was dark and someone was removing a piece of rope from around his feet. He did not let them know he was awake. There were six men on the boat," he said.

The schoolboy, who remained lying inside the pirogue, waited for several minutes before he crawled out and slipped into the water while the men were at the front of the boat. The boy said he waded to shore and ran to the nearby Moruga Police Station. At the time, worried parents were at another police station, filing a missing person's report.

The father said, "When we did not see him come home around 7 p.m., we went to the station to make a report. Just then a call came and police said he was found. My wife went with an ambulance to pick him up."

He added: "We don't know if this is linked to human trafficking, but it is something serious. I am pleading with parents to warn your children about travelling. Tell them to only go into cars with people they know. Look, when we began warning our children about PH cars, this happens with a taxi," he said.

Recently, there have been a number of crimes committed by people posing as PH drivers, including rape, kidnapping and murder, which prompted the call to clamp down on the service.

Several women have also gone missing after leaving home to travel to Chaguanas.