Thirty women trafficked for sex - most from Colombia and Venezuela - were rescued in two raids in Mexico, police said Saturday. The biggest operation took place in Toluca, capital of Mexico state, the most populous and one of the most dangerous states in the nation. In that raid, authorities freed 24 women between 21 and 39 years old. Federal police said 14 of the women said they were originally from Colombia and 10 from Venezuela.
The victims were detained and the man and woman in charge of their activities were arrested. After being promised jobs, in Mexico they were stripped of their documents and forced to prostitute themselves, under the threat that their families would be harmed. In another operation carried out in several homes in the city of Cuernavaca, Morelos - a popular holiday destination in the center of the country - authorities freed another six trafficking victims, five Venezuelans and a Mexican.