Lanka police crackdown on large ring trafficking prostitutes to Maldives

Sri Lankan police have cracked down a large prostitution ring which has trafficked more than 100 prostitutes to Maldives, arresting two ringleaders.

Sri Lankan newspaper, Daily Mirror reports that the arrests were made by Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB), and that the ring supplied prostitutes to the Maldivian elite.

The ringleaders - two Sri Lankan man of 37 years and 55 years were arrested from Battaramulla on Wednesday.

Both the men have been remanded until November 25 by Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court.

Sri Lankan authorities were alerted to the prostitution ring after one of the victims escaped and returned back to Sri Lanka and reported it to the authorities. Another woman who was being prepared to be sent to Maldives has been resqued.

The suspects told police during interrogation that they paid each woman was paid Rs. 180,000 monthly (approximately USD 1,200).

SLFEB reported to Daily Mirror that most of the woman were told the job called for prostitution, while some were trafficked to Maldives under the guise that they would be provided decent jobs.

Sri Lankan authorities are now searching for a Maldivian man who is suspected of running the ring from Maldives-side.