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Officials Uncover "School for
Prostitutes" in Playa Jacó
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Spanish |
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Immigration Officials
Uncover "School for
Prostitutes" in Playa
Jacó
According to an
investigation by the
Policía Especial de
Migración - immigration
police - two men and
woman, Dominicans
naturalized in Costa
Rica, ran what they call
a "school for
prostitutes" in playa
Jacó.
The investigation began
when a woman who had
attended all the classes
at the "school" was then
sent out to work in the
local bars and night
clubs in the area.
The head of the
immigration police,
Francisco Castaing, said
that he began an
investigation following
the woman's complaint, a
foreigner who was not
identified, when she
told immigration
officials of the
existence of the the
"school" and that they
charged thousands of
dollars for the classes.
"We uncovered that three
people were bringing in
illegally to Costa Rica
women from the Dominican
Republic, were they
would put them up in a
house in Jacó and in the
afternoon impart classes
and put them to work as
prostitutes at night",
explained Castaing.
The immigration official
added that once the
women graduated, that is
they were good at their
job, the operators of
the "school" would them
arrange them to get
married to Costa Rican
so that they could avoid
deportation.
Wednesday night
immigration officials
descended on the coastal
beach town in a sweep of
local bars and nighclubs
to uncover illegals.
"The surprise is the
number of Dominican
prostitutes in Jacó, of
a group of 60 women we
investigated, 58 were
from the Dominican
Republic. We have
declarations from a
number of the Dominicans
of the existence of the
'school' and the method
they use to get them
here, coming in through
Nicaragua and Panama,
mocking police
controls", said Castaing.
The amazing part is that
a large number of the
prostitutes possess a
residency cedula that
they allege to have
obtained through
marriage with a Costa
Rican, although none of
the women know who they
husband his.
For director de
Migración, Mario Zamora,
the "school of
prostitution" is just
another example of
proxenetismo (pimping)
that goes on in the
country.
"This is a hard case of
pimping and protected by
the power of marriage.
But not all ends there,
these women will obtain
their Costa Rican
nationality in two
years, opening the door
to immigration to the
United States and
Europe", explained
Zamora.
The immigration director
added that Costa Rica is
just a stop, as Costa
Ricans do not need a
visa to Europe and that
this could be problem
for Costa Ricans when
those countries begin to
see problems and place
travel restrictions on
Costa Ricans.
Zamora said that one
solution to the problem
is the approval of
reforms to the
immigration laws that
would end marriages by
proxy, a mechanism used
by many foreigners.
One of the women talked
to the press, telling
her story of how the
group would charge
us$3.500 to come to
Costa Rica and for those
who cannot get a visa
will get here by way of
Nicaragua or Panama,
where Dominicans do not
need a visa.
Once in Costa Rica, they
are taken to a home
where they are taught to
be prostitutes. The
woman who did not reveal
her identity said that
she was not a prostitute
in her country, but in
Costa Rica no one knows
her and is her way of
making money to pay off
the loan and send money
home to help out her
family.
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An unidentified Dominican woman being
escorted by immigration officials out of
the "school for prostitutes" in Jacó,
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