BAVARO Punta Cana – Twenty women of different nationalities, including minors, have been rescued during an operation to dismantle a human trafficking network in Bavaro Punta Cana.
The operation, carried out by agents from the Department of Human Trafficking and Smuggling Investigations in collaboration with the Special Border Crimes Unit (DEIDET), led to the arrest of five people in the province of La Altagracia.
The intervention was also supported by the Investigative Unit of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking (PETT).
The operation carried out in Bávaro Punta Cana was the result of an in-depth investigation launched in 2023 after receiving information about a criminal network specializing in sexual exploitation in an abandoned building known as “La Mansion”.
The network, led by Domingo Lorenzo Santana “Wellington”, 44, ran a bar where the victims were sexually exploited. Also arrested were Reina Julissa Solano Monción, 27; Marinelles Familia Ogando, 45; Berlin Elisme (aka “Obama”), 30; and Richard de la Cruz Camacho (aka “El Pa” or “Paz”), 46.
The investigation revealed that the ring recruited women and minors from various states of the country, including the National District, Santiago de los Caballeros, Puerto Plata and La Romana, and transported them to Bávaro Punta Cana, where they were housed or exhibited in windows for sexual exploitation.
During the operation, authorities arrested members of the network and rescued victims, who received assistance and protection.
