Identifying child trafficking tactics in mountainous areas.

Dismantling numerous drug trafficking rings and rescuing victims.

Recently, law enforcement agencies in the province have dismantled many networks and arrested numerous individuals involved in the trafficking of children in mountainous areas.

For example, the police in Tuong Duong district recently successfully cracked a case, arresting Cut Thi Mui (born in 1991), residing in Ngoc Lam commune, Thanh Chuong district, for the crime of buying and selling children, and successfully rescuing 3 victims.

According to the investigation results, Mui used to live in Tuong Duong district and frequently returned to her hometown to entice and lure young girls to go abroad for work, but in reality, she was selling them into prostitution. After a period of surveillance, on July 8, 2024, the Tuong Duong District Police arrested Cut Thi Mui and rescued the victim CTK (born in 2002), residing in Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district.

Authorities clarified that in 2014, while K. was staying at the home of Vi Thi X. (mother of Cut Thi Mui) in Ngoc Lam commune, Thanh Chuong district, Mui (who was then abroad) contacted her by phone and promised to bring K. over to help Mui take care of her child; at the same time, Mui would find K. a job.

However, in reality, Mui sold K. to a man abroad to be his wife for 180 million VND. Expanding the investigation, the police rescued two more victims: XTC, residing in Yen Hoa commune, and LTM, residing in Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district.

Previously, the police in Tuong Duong district also arrested three individuals for "trafficking in persons under 16 years of age," successfully rescuing three victims before they could be sold abroad. Through investigative work, the police in Luong Minh commune discovered that several individuals in the commune were colluding with people outside the area to lure and entice young girls to work abroad for the purpose of trafficking, so they established a special task force to combat this.

At the end of April 2024, the special task force dispatched a team to Cao Bang province to coordinate with the Border Guard forces to rescue three girls: LTH (born in 2012), CTT (born in 2012), and LTN (born in 2007), all residing in Cham Puong village, Luong Minh commune.

Based on the victims' testimonies, on May 8, 2024, the Tuong Duong District Police arrested Xeo Thi Thanh (born in 1994), residing in the same commune as the victims. Further investigation led to the arrest of two more suspects on May 9, 2024: Luong Thi Bien and Xeo Van Hien, both residing in Huoi Tho village, Huu Kiem commune, Ky Son district. At the police station, the suspects confessed to colluding with a Vietnamese national abroad to sell the girls for a profit of 165 million VND.

According to authorities, the majority of victims of human trafficking are children from disadvantaged families with limited legal awareness and a high demand for employment. Taking advantage of this, local perpetrators collude with individuals from outside the area, using deceptive tactics such as promising easy work with high pay or marriage to foreigners to lure and sell victims, including relatives and acquaintances.

For example, on the evening of July 1, 2023, authorities caught Ven Thi Hoai (born in 2003), residing in Khe Nap village, Bao Nam commune, Ky Son district, red-handed while she was leading two girls, VT Kh. (born in 2009) and MT Nh. (born in 2008), both from the same village, on a passenger bus heading to northern provinces, preparing to cross into China. Tragically, Kh. is Hoai's younger sister.

Hoài lied to her parents, saying she was taking her younger sister and a neighbor from her village to work in Bac Giang, but in reality, she had previously conspired with her friend, Cụt Thị Ngọc, residing in Nậm Nhoóng, Quế Phong district (whose mother is in China), to sell the two girls for 60 million dong in commission and 80,000 Chinese Yuan (equivalent to 240 million dong).

Speaking at a live dialogue program on the prevention and combating of human trafficking, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van Hung, Deputy Head of the Criminal Police Department (Nghe An Provincial Police), said: "Currently, human trafficking crimes have shifted from direct trafficking to using social media and applying high technology to criminal activities."

Some criminals have fabricated or created false information on social media about affluent and wealthy lives to easily approach, befriend, and gain the trust and admiration of children... then deceive and lure them into acts of trafficking, sexual abuse, and exploitation of child labor.

Their targets are often teenage girls in remote areas, experiencing psychological and physiological changes, interested in beauty, wanting to work and earn money to meet their personal needs, but with limited awareness of the law and social information. In some cases, these girls themselves hid their actions from their families, agreeing to accept offers of "easy work with high pay" from these unscrupulous individuals.

Typically, on the afternoon of March 8, 2024, Ms. Vi Thi Th., residing in Dong Moi village, Dong Van commune (Que Phong district), received news that her niece, an 8th-grade student, and another girl had left home to go to Bac Ninh province to work at a restaurant with a "high salary." Suspecting that the two girls had been lured by criminals, Ms. Th. asked acquaintances to contact bus companies operating the Que Phong (Nghe An) to Bac Ninh route to search for them. Fortunately, one bus company reported that two young students were on the bus but were not accompanied by an adult. Previously, these two girls had been booked by a man who called to reserve two bus tickets to Que Vo (Bac Ninh).

After confirmation, an acquaintance of Ms. Th. suggested that the bus company keep the children there so that their family could pick them up. On the afternoon of March 9th, the family arrived to pick up the two girls and bring them home safely.

A coordinated effort is needed.

The western region of Nghe An province comprises 11 districts and towns, including 5 mountainous districts primarily inhabited by ethnic minorities. The economic conditions and awareness of the people in this area are still low, the demand for jobs is high, while local livelihoods are difficult, making women and girls vulnerable to human trafficking.

Therefore, Party committees, governments, and the political system at all levels have strengthened the dissemination and education of laws on preventing and combating human trafficking through various forms suitable to the local conditions and the awareness of each target group, especially in key localities.

Authorities also regularly coordinate with international and non-governmental organizations in rescuing and receiving victims of human trafficking, and organizing communication activities to prevent and combat human trafficking. In addition, they cooperate with border provinces of Laos to sign memoranda of understanding on cooperation in preventing and combating crimes along the border, including human trafficking.

However, because human trafficking in general, and child trafficking in particular, often involves tightly organized networks scattered across provinces nationwide, and even abroad, with sophisticated and cunning methods employed by criminals to evade law enforcement, organizing arrests and prosecutions is difficult.

In addition, according to Lieutenant Colonel Phan Van Hung - Deputy Head of the Anti-Drug and Crime Prevention Department (Nghe An Provincial Border Guard): In some areas, local Party committees and authorities have not really taken decisive action, still believing that the fight against human trafficking is the responsibility of the functional forces.

Therefore, the People's Committee of Nghe An province has issued numerous directives to relevant departments and agencies to strengthen communication activities; utilize social media to disseminate information about the methods and tactics of human trafficking criminals; and incorporate anti-human trafficking awareness content into civic education and extracurricular programs at all levels and sectors, especially in remote areas, ethnic boarding schools, and vocational training institutions. Simultaneously, attention is being paid to protecting and supporting victims, particularly minors.

Authorities (primarily the police and border guards) are intensifying efforts to gather intelligence, closely monitor the area, and investigate networks, groups, and individuals suspected of being involved in human trafficking and child trafficking to ensure strict control; they are also proactively detecting human trafficking activities to establish special cases for investigation and prosecution.

In addition, it is necessary to regularly monitor information and the situation in areas that human traffickers often use as transit points to transport women and girls for sale, especially on passenger bus routes from Nghe An to northern border provinces (particularly Mong Cai - Quang Ninh, Tan Thanh - Lang Son...) in order to detect and apprehend cases of human trafficking.

However, alongside the vigorous and effective fight against human trafficking in general, and child trafficking in particular, by law enforcement agencies, early and proactive prevention efforts also need to be prioritized by localities, especially key areas, and identified as a crucial solution to prevent this situation.