Vietnamese authorities in the central highlands province of Gia Lai have identified 25-year-old Vu Thi Khanh Huyen as the alleged mastermind behind a human trafficking operation that involved five victims being smuggled into Laos.
Huyen is currently on the run, and a warrant for her arrest has been issued, according to VN Express.
A report by the police stated that between November 2022 and June 2023, Huyen deceived the victims, aged 23-26, by promising them employment in Myanmar with a cosmetics company she claimed to own and operate.
The victims believed Huyen and agreed to go work with her. Huyen assisted the victims in obtaining their passports and bought them tickets to Yangon in 2023. However, upon arrival in Myanmar, Huyen seized the victims’ passports and trafficked them to Laos by car.
When in Laos, the victims were sold to illegal scamming companies, where they were locked up and forced to engage in activities such as online gambling schemes, defrauding unsuspecting players.
Like many other victims, the five were subject to a range of serious human rights violations, including threats to their safety and security and physical abuse.
To secure their release, the victims had to pay a ransom of VND210 million (USD 8,550). After the payment, the victims were eventually able to return home safely.
Upon discovering Huyen’s alleged involvement in these crimes, she managed to evade authorities and flee the country.
Human trafficking in Southeast Asia is emerging as one of the biggest threats to safety in the region, with organized criminal networks exploiting vulnerable individuals for illegal activities. From romance investment scams to crypto fraud and illegal gambling, hundreds of thousands of people are falling victim to these insidious operations, posing a substantial threat to safety in the region.
