Prostitution ring abusing Ethiopian girls busted

In its continuous crackdown on human trafficking networks across Lebanon, Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced that it arrested a prostitution ring which used a nightclub in Mkalles (Metn area) to meet with customers via Whatsapp and YouChat. An ISF statement revealed that the owner of the nightclub and mastermind of the ring, is a 37-year old Lebanese national who has a record in human trafficking. Some 50 girls and 13 young men, members of the ring, set dates with paying customers, the statement said. The involved women were Ethiopian migrant domestic workers who fled their employers’ houses to work in prostitution, the statement added. They met with potential clients online and went out together later. (An Nahar, Al Diyar, March 4 and 5, 2017)