Dozens of underage prostitutes liberated in operation that used ex-FBI and ex-CIA agents posing as sex tourists
Colombian beauty queen Kelly Johana Suarez was one of 15 people nabbed in a sting operation on child sex traffickers last week. Photo: Twitter, SIPSE.com
AT LEAST 12 people including a beauty queen were captured after police and US law enforcement brought down a major child sex trafficking ring, local media reported last week.
The sting operation was conducted with the special CTI Police unit, and struck in at least three Colombian cities, liberating 47 young girls under the age of 18, Semana magazine reported.
Some of the girls rescued by authorities were as young as 11, and in some cases the pimps offered up a girl’s virginity at a premium, media reports said.
Among those arrested by police was the Colombian beauty queen Kelly Johana Suarez, who was said to head up the child sex network and catered specifically to foreign sex tourists, according to reports.
The operation to catch the criminals, involved the use of an ex-CIA agent and retired FBI agents, who worked with the Colombian Navy, Coast Guard, police and CTI units. The agents, posing as tourists seeking sex with minors, spent weeks planning what the traffickers believed to be a birthday party. The pimps promised to deliver “beautiful gifts” to the Americans, reports said.
On the day of the bust, authorities rented a finca house that was decorated with balloons and a banner reading “Happy Birthday Camila” so as to resemble a child’s birthday party and create an environment where pimps felt comfortable taking minors, according to Semana.
In reality, the house was wired with microphones and cameras to obtain evidence. The sting operation yielded results; five of the traffickers were filmed trying to sell the virginity of an 11-year-old girl for $1,000 USD.
After her arrest, the beauty queen Suarez insisted she was framed, despite being caught on camera parading the girls in front of agents posing as sex tourists.