Slaves of the XXI century

The previous article "Sexual Slaves from Ukraine" could not contain everything that the editorial office managed to find out during the investigation of the modern slave trade. Especially given the fact that human trafficking is not just forced sex. In addition, there is the market for beggars, labor exploitation and organ trafficking. And the problem is that in 2022 it is still possible.

Vasyl K., the head of the Italian sex channel, organized "trips" from three Ukrainian regions at once: Ternopil, Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia. Under his protection, the girls went to Naples, where the organizer cooperated with Italian criminal groups.

Of course, the girls did not even imagine that they would have to go through. They were sincerely convinced that in Italy they would take care of the elderly. However, after arriving in Naples, everything turned out quite differently.

The Ukrainian police monitored the activities of the organizer for more than three years, but it was simply impossible to do anything about it. Because the defendant was on the territory of another state - Italy. Three years later, Ukrainian law enforcement officers managed to lure Vasyl to Ukraine and he is currently in pre-trial detention, and his case is being considered in court.

As a rule, the organizers of such businesses recruit recruits from previously convicted persons. For example, the Odessa supply channel for young Ukrainian women was controlled by two Roma: Jim Fedorchenko and Churar Rada. The first was previously convicted 5 times, for a whole bunch of criminal articles, among which "noted" theft, robbery, robbery and more. The second has been prosecuted too.

In general, the Odessa region is a Klondike for slave traders. It is in this area that the Izbash-Daria group is stationed, which had many allies in the UAE and Cyprus. It is believed that this is one of the main groups of the slave trade, which oversees the market throughout Ukraine and its members met girls at the airports of Dubai and Nicosia, receiving not only one-time fees for live goods, but also a percentage of earnings of each slave.

In most cases, the girls went to work as masseuses, but upon arrival there was a terrible reality: they were locked in apartments and forced to provide paid sexual services, threatening physical violence not only with them but also with their families.

Factory slaves

(MOM Graphics)

The stereotype ingrained in society shows that the slave trade thrives exclusively in the field of sexual services. However, this is not the case. The market is not limited to prostitution, but has a much wider reach. Including the very widespread commercial exploitation of slave labor.

Similar crimes usually thrive in underground factories located around the largest wholesale markets in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Khmelnytsky. In the Odesa region alone, more than 30 factories operate in the 7th kilometer market, including in the Berezivka and Rozdilna district centers. And labor slaves there are as powerless as prostitutes.

Visiting guest workers hope to be able to enter the European Union, but face a terrible reality, remaining locked up in dungeons and factories, where they have to work for $ 50-70 a month.

According to the established tradition in the market, their documents are simply confiscated, and in case of refusal to work, they are threatened with physical violence or "surrender" to the migration police. And the organizers of this "holiday of life" are either their compatriots who legally live in the country, or the Ukrainians themselves.

Recently, the public became aware of a criminal group that held more than 40 people in slavery in the Odesa region. According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, they, together with the police, managed to release 12 of them. Slaves lived in barracks, ate little and drank cheap alcohol. And the so-called "overseer" controlled their work on agricultural land and movement through the territory.

Stone slaves

Another case was labor slavery organized by Ukrainian entrepreneurs, together with Pakistanis, at Labro LLC, located in the village of Chopovichi, Malyn district, Zhytomyr region, where "workers" had to extract and process stone in inhumane conditions.

Illegals from Vietnam, China and Afghanistan play the role of cheap or even free labor. Most of their salaries are selected for untrue debts, often inflated : travel to Ukraine, accommodation, food, registration of some documents. After all, in order to actually get into the European Union, slaves have to work off debts for several years. And according to law enforcement, the turnover of such underground work reaches 100 million dollars annually.

The media systematically reported on the loud closures of the next underground factory with labor slaves. And a few years ago, as a result of a special operation by law enforcement, the story of the discovery of an underground shop in the heart of Odessa, where fabric, ready-made sports suits and clichés of well-known brands were confiscated.

Uncle Tom's hut

"The bloodied Hindu took a desperate step and jumped out of the window to escape from captivity, because all the doors in the house were closed. Bleeding, with a broken leg, he passed away from the place of imprisonment, shouting loudly. No, this is not a scenario of a Bollywood action movie, but a very common case in the heart of Eastern Europe. Neighbors responded to the man's cries by calling the police.

Satparvirtar Singh, Malkeet Singh, Jatinder Sing - three Hindus who were actually enslaved and beaten - were released by law enforcement. Later police charged a local man with suspicion of illegal imprisonment and the movement of foreigners across the state border.

According to the investigation, a resident of Transcarpathia had to transport Indian citizens to Europe for a fee - $ 3,500 each. But something went wrong in this scheme, and the "entrepreneur" did not receive the money. And while the relatives of the prisoners were looking for the necessary amount, they were severely beaten.

But the most interesting thing in this situation is that according to court documents,the suspect in the case is a deputy of Velykobreznyanska OTG Bohdan Penyak, who, as it turned out, is accused and in another similar case - the detention of five Tajik citizens. Hassan Mirzoev, Mahbuba Mahsudova, Azamjon Kholov, Anis Kholov, Dilszod Khairulloyev have met with Bohdan Penyak in the past.

Mykola Stankanych and Serhiy Kapustenko are also involved in this case together with the deputy. The investigation believes that this organized group used to transport Tajik citizens from Lviv to Zakarpattia, threatening them with something like a pistol. Phones were confiscated from the prisoners and visibility was restricted by putting bags on their heads. Then they put them in the basement and openly seized money in the amount of 6700 US dollars.

By the way, one of the deputies' accomplices, Mykola Stankanych, already has an "order-award" behind him. He was previously convicted of transporting ten illegal immigrants to the Slovak Republic.

As it turned out, officials in such cases are frequent "guests" and participate in criminal schemes. But this is not the worst, because they are competing with law enforcement officers themselves, who are supposed to serve and protect.

Volodymyr Andrusyak, a special services officer, was one of the defendants in such a scheme, who did not receive any punishment. The criminal case in which he was involved was initiated in 2012, but today it has been closed after the expiration of the statute of limitations, and there is no verdict.

Most likely, this became possible because the employee's case was "classified" and a dozen judges simply could not conduct the process without access to state secrets. As a result, all the details of his attempt to organize the transportation of illegals from Odessa region to Transcarpathia, and then to Europe - and remained secret.

Ukrainian Rom for French euros

Twenty-five-year-old Petsha has been living in Odessa for three months. However, he did not have time to swim in the sea or see the sights. The Rom, who came with his family from Transcarpathia, were forced to wander, live in the open air, hand over waste paper and scrap metal, and sometimes just beg. Everything changed in November last year, when Petsha was approached by a well-dressed compatriot with a huge cross on a thick gold chain.

The TV series "Squid Game" came out much later. But if it was in rental, Petsha would think that he was invited to just such a game. A stranger invited him to go with his family to France. And not just free, but also get 300 euros for each family member. Plus payment for accommodation, meals and travel.

- Why such money?

- In France, there are some gaps in the law, you can earn. Everything is legal and will take a few days, - the rich rum promised.

Petsha agreed ... like hundreds of other Roma from Ukraine. "Tourists" were sought among the homeless, the mentally ill, alcoholics and visitors. And the scheme itself began its work more than a year ago, when a group of wealthy Roma, who can be called "Gypsy Barons", established contact with their compatriots from France.

According to law enforcement officers "from the other side", only in April this year, nine organizers from France were detained in Paris and nearby settlements. Eight were "found" in Ukraine. According to the latest court records, there are already 14 Ukrainian people involved in the case, most of them from Moldova.

As it turned out, the enterprising "Roma-Ukrainians", in alliance with their allies in France, figured out how to get money from the French budget. During the investigation it was established that one of the defendants in the criminal case is connected with the well-known in Ukraine Roma NGO "Ame-Roma" - "We-Roma".

The attackers work according to the following scheme:

• criminals search for previously convicted, homeless people, people with disabilities, beggars and their families in the territory of Ukraine and Moldova, with the help of broad connections in the Roma environment;

• passports for travel abroad are issued to these persons in the units of the State Migration Service in Ukraine;

• after which a large number of Roma are deported to France. In particular, to the city of Melin - near Paris;

• French criminals meet Roma and settle them in rented premises;

• documents are confiscated from people and, using psychological and physical pressure, they are forced to call the French embassies and government agencies;

• Under pressure, Roma tell the authorities fictional stories that they fled to Europe due to the war in eastern Ukraine and seek refugee status.

The process of processing such applications under European law is 9 months, during which applicants receive assistance of 300 euros per person. That is, for this period - 2700 euros, which are taken away by criminals.

Of course, it is impossible to refuse an application for refugee status. Particularly disobedient people are severely beaten and handcuffed for several days without food or water. Or they threaten to kill relatives and children who remained in Ukraine.

Assistance is received on a bank card, which is issued together with the application for refugee status. That is, the money comes to the applicant in absentia and in France he is no longer needed. The bank card is confiscated by criminals, and people are transported back to Ukraine.

In just a few months of this year, 207 Roma were taken out of Ukraine - 559 thousand euros, paid from the French budget by petitioners, settled in the pockets of fraudsters. According to Ukrainian and French law, such crimes are punishable by 5 to 12 years in prison.

A year ago, French police were stunned by the scale of the deal. They addressed instructions to Ukrainian colleagues. The latter investigated the case for a long time, and finally, in April 2021, during arrests and a series of searches, they found not only the organizers, but also evidence: credit cards, bank documents and even weapons.

As we managed to establish, at first most of the detained organizers and managers of the "tourist channel" were in custody. After all, when information about this appeared in the media, law enforcement agencies and courts were under serious pressure from the public.

However, the news "passed", the media ceased to be interested in this topic. And the judges of the Odessa Court of Appeal "suddenly" decided that keeping the defendants in pre-trial detention is not so necessary. And this despite the fact that in May the detainees were informed about the suspicion of committing criminal offenses under Part 2 of Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, by qualification:

• recruitment and transfer of persons committed for the purpose of exploitation, using deception and vulnerability, with the prior conspiracy of a group of persons;

• the movement of people for the purpose of exploitation, deception and vulnerability, with the prior conspiracy of a group of persons.

In addition, the authors learned that the pre-trial investigation body on 30.08.2021 sent to the competent authorities of the French Republic a request for international legal assistance. Now, in the territory of this state it is necessary to conduct a significant amount of investigative (search) and other procedural actions in order to establish the circumstances relevant to criminal proceedings.

The editorial office managed to establish a pool of organizers and managers of "tourist trips" to France:

Anxious summary

Criminal groups engaged in the slave trade operate around the world: in Ukraine, Europe and Asia, confined to light intimidation, lower-level "showers" and bribes to their accomplices at all levels of the executive branch. Tens of thousands of people are being transported to Poland, the Czech Republic, Lebanon, Turkey, Cambodia and the UAE, hoping for legal earnings that actually turn out to be real slavery.

Such processes are impossible without the connivance of law enforcement agencies of all countries and the corruption component. In view of the global pandemic that has already covered poor labor markets and wages, the slave trade has expanded with renewed vigor and even greater.

Although the Ukrainian police have a number of foreign agreements and opportunities to combat international criminal groups.

In the last decade, several hundred criminal cases have been investigated in Ukraine alone, but only the grassroots - recruiters and carriers - have been convicted. There is no question of punishing the organizers, and especially the owners of brothels in all these countries. According to the International Migration Association, more than 200,000 young Ukrainian women have been victims of sexual slavery during this period.

It is difficult to detect and prove such crimes. Slaves have no rights. And after slavery - returning to Ukraine - they are afraid to turn to the police. After all, recruiters know the addresses and relatives. Not to mention that after returning home, the girls just aren't up to it. They have health problems, are treated in psychiatric clinics and drug dispensaries, get HIV and become infertile. It is also not a fact that slaves were not forcibly involved in illegal activities during their captivity and are simply afraid of personal responsibility.

And what kind of punishment can we talk about if most of the injured girls openly declare the protection of brothels by the police and officials. The fact is that in many such places there are hidden video cameras that capture guests, which helps to engage in open blackmail for benefit financially, personnel or politically.

30.12. 2022
 

** The investigation was conducted using an analytical system - YouControl