Trafficking: Venezuelan woman who operated brothel faces 9 charges

Mayelin Cordova, the Venezuelan woman who is currently in prison for operating a brothel, was on Wednesday charged with nine counts of Trafficking in Persons.

Forty-year-old Cordova, a businesswoman of Byderabo Road, Bartica, Region Seven appeared at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court via Zoom before Magistrate Crystal Lambert.

The charges were laid Contrary to Section 3(1)(ii) of the Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act No. 2 of 2005.

The matters were adjourned to July 5 for disclosure.

Cordova is currently serving a six-month prison sentence for operating a brothel.

Police Headquarters, in a statement, noted that between March 15, 2023, and April 30, 2023, Cordova trafficked nine Venezuelan women from Venezuela to Guyana and exploited them between Crusher Hill and Barakat Backdam, Cuyuni Mazaruni River, Region 7.

According to the report, the victims reported the matter to the Guyana Police Force, and members of the Trafficking in Persons Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters conducted an investigation.

The charges were laid in keeping with legal advice given by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).