WILLEMSTAD - On Friday, a fifth suspect was arrested in the human trafficking investigation Tres Belle. It is a travel agent who booked the tickets for the trago (drinking) ladies (prostitutes). This travel agent is suspected of complicity in human trafficking, by arranging tickets for Venezuelan ladies several times at the request of the bar owner / main suspect in the investigation. If a travel agent knows that the tickets, he or she books are intended for (Venezuelan) ladies who are very likely to work in a bar as prostitutes, then the travel agent is - in the opinion of the public prosecution- guilty of complicity in human trafficking. In that case, a travel agent cannot hide behind the fact that he or she is only doing his or her job.

There is talk of human smuggling if you help someone to gain access and / or stay in Curaçao, knowing that their stay on the island is illegal. If a Venezuelan lady is staying and working in Curaçao, she is illegal, even if she is still staying in her first thirty days which is allowed by law. In principle, working immediately makes the stay illegal. This is only different if the woman has a residence and work permit.

The travel agent is being brought before the examining magistrate today.

A few days ago, the remaining 4 suspects from the Tres Belle investigation were suspended from pre-trial detention. The OM appealed against this decision of the examining magistrate in respect of 3 of the 4 suspects. The police investigation concerning Tres Belle is now being continued.