1st in Japan -- teen trafficking charged

[Taro Toporific]

Human trafficking charge added to teen prostitution case Japan Today - May 27
KOBE -- Police arrested two men Wednesday on suspicion they forced two teenage girls to sell themselves for sex, applying a human trafficking charge to a case for the first time in Japan....[the suspect] Anai told police the girls owed him 4 million yen and 8 million yen, respectively, amounts they spent at his bar where male hosts entertain women.

[tomasurii]

As a former US border officer who has seen a fair share of human trafficking and some of the misery it causes, I emphatically believe that Japan should strike hard against anyone engaging in trafficking behavior. Depending on how the Japanese trafficking law is structured, I can see how it is applicable to the two men.

I advocate the harshest criminal penalty available. Prolonged sexual enslavement destroys womens' psyche.

Interestingly, human trafficking is more profitable than drug trafficking. There has been a massive upsurge in human trafficking along the US-Mexico border. However, an enormous hiring drive by the US Border Patrol following September 11 has resulted in tightened enforcement along the border and numerous apprehensions. However, I've read the problem is rampant in Asia, and Western Europe.

[DJEB]

Sounds like the slave trade is still kicking in the North.