Three Teenage Girls Rescued From Labor Trafficking in Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — State prosecutors rescued three teenage girls from an alleged labor exploitation operation in Playa del Carmen and arrested the woman accused of running it, authorities announced.

District attorney Estela Labastida Rodríguez, speaking on behalf of state attorney general Raciel López Salazar, said the investigation began with a complaint and included four search warrants carried out with support from the National Guard, the Mexican Navy, municipal police and municipal DIF, the family welfare agency.

The three victims, originally from the municipality of Tenejapa in the southern state of Chiapas, were recruited by Angélica N., also known as “La Patrona,” to clean and wash corn kernels, wash dishes and do general cleaning, according to prosecutors. They were then taken to the city center on tricycles equipped for street vending, where they sold corn and esquites, a traditional corn snack, from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Prosecutors said the daily sales brought in between 4,400 and 10,800 Mexican pesos, and that Angélica N. paid the girls less than the legal minimum wage.

After the rescue, authorities obtained an arrest warrant, and investigative police detained Angélica N.

During the searches, officials seized:

• a tricycle bearing the sign “elotes y esquites estilo Veracruz,” aluminum steamers, documents and cellphones on Bahía de Mendoza Street in the In House irregular settlement;
• clothing at a property on Sin Nombre Street;
• green and dried plant material resembling marijuana, a metal grinder and the girls’ official documents at a home on Flamingos Street in the Villas del Sol Plus residential development; and
• three tricycles, a small cart, a metal canopy with the sign “esquites y elotes estilo Veracruz,” and notebooks with notes on Avenida 15 Norte.

The properties were sealed and placed under custody of the State Prosecutor’s Office. The evidence was turned over to prosecutors, and Angélica N. was brought before a judge to determine her legal status. The teenagers were placed under the protection of DIF.