Human trafficking cases now CPPO's top priority

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Provincial Police Office has considered human trafficking cases as top priority.

CPPO deputy provincial director for operations Teofilo Siclot said the police’s incapability to track down possible cybersex dens prompted them to prioritize human trafficking cases.

According to Siclot, there is a huge possibility that human trafficking cases will proliferate in the province if not much attention is being given. Siclot said that the chiefs of police in the towns where there were confirmed cases of human trafficking admitted that they found it hard to keep track with the technology used by human traffickers.

Siclot has requested the Police Regional Office-7 to include the intelligence personnel of CPPO and the police chiefs of the different municipalities in future trainings.

 “Hope they will localize the training down to lower units,” Siclot said.

Siclot said, so far, only the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the National Bureau of Investigation have been trained to handle high profile cases like human trafficking.

He said the police need an information technology expert or even a web tracker who is rained to handle cyber crime cases.

A couple in Cordova was earlier arrested by the NBI in coordination with the United States Department of Homeland Security for selling their minor children into cybersex market abroad.

The couple, who are now charged with qualified trafficking in court, was caught in the act of exploiting six minors by making them engage in explicit sexual activities in front of a web camera.

Last April, about seven victims of human trafficking were also rescued during a police raid inside a suspected cyber sex den in Consolacion town. — (FREEMAN)