Human trafficking

Costa Rica on Thursday dismantled a human trafficking network that operated for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and authorities detained 10 people who led the operation, the Migration Directorate reported.

The detainees were left to the order of the Public Ministry (prosecutor's office), which could prosecute them for the crime of illicit trafficking in persons.

The United States included Nicaragua on its human trafficking blacklist; Costa Rica remained stable.

Undocumented migrants claimed to have been threatened with death or rape if they did not agree to pay the groups of smugglers.

Police began the trafficking investigation following the disappearance last year of three Ticos who allegedly paid Barboza to take them to Miami via Panama and Barbados.

Sex tourist David Strecker, aka Cuba Dave, was found guilty of violating one count of Costa Rica's Sex Tourism Law in a San José court Wednesday.

Judicial and immigration officials in Costa Rica on Tuesday arrested two men suspected of forming part of a criminal group responsible for smuggling migrants across the Americas on their way to the U.S.

NATO dispatched warships to the Aegean Sea on Thursday to target people-smuggling operations, in an attempt to cope with the huge wave of migrants seeking to reach Europe's shores.

A recent report details nearly 30 cases where unaccompanied Central American child migrants in the U.S. had been trafficked after federal officials released them to sponsors or where there were "serious trafficking indicators."

MEXICO CITY – Sixty people have been arrested on charges of child pornography and three minors were rescued in a joint operation with FBI agents and police in Argentina, Chile and Mexico, officials here said.