BANGKOK — Police on Friday arrested an Uzbek national who allegedly lured fellow nationals into working in the sex trade moments before he was about to flee the country at an airport in Bangkok.
Nauruzbek Tashripov, 32, was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport while attempting to leave the country after a warrant was issued against him. The arrest followed a tip off from a victim who reached out to anti-sex trafficking organizations NightLight International and Operation Underground Railroad, commander of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division Saruti Khwaengsopha said.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Saruti said the suspect and his fleeing accomplices enticed women from Uzbekistan to work in Pattaya, ostensibly as a chef assistant at a restaurant with paid travel and visa costs, but then forcing them to become prostitutes.
The women were forced to work from 6pm to 6am to pay back the debt of 175,000 baht and were threatened with violence if they did not comply with the captors, police said. They were also said to be provided just one meal per day, or none at all if they did not meet their daily target.
Two other Uzbek nationals linked to the ring managed to flee the country together with the rest of the victims to Bahrain, police said. The suspects were charged with colluding in human trafficking and prostitution.
