Ticas Recruited To Compete With Geishas
The geishas, Japan's traditional, female Japanese entertainers, have long dominated the prostitution market in the country have now strong competition, Latinas. Yesterday, a mother and her daughter were detained by Costa Rican police as suspects in a white slavery ring.

The two women, who were set free on bail, recruited Costa Rican women with the promise of work in Japan. The Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), who made the arrest of the two women in Gravilias de Desamparados, say the recruitment was for work in the sex trade.

The two women, identified only by their last name, Calvo, face charges that could land them from three to six years in jail.

Costa Rica has laws that protect persons of either sex from being sexually exploited by persons who contract them for sex work outside of the country.

The OIJ says that the women placed ads in the local newspapers, offering work as hostesses in Japanese restaurants, with salaries of more than us$1.000 per week, plus room and board.

According to police official, during their investigation they were able to contact six women who had replied to the ad, four of which decided not to take the job offer, while two were located in Japan, where they told their story of what the job was really all about.