A prostitution ring in Costa Rica forced Dominicans to work in the sex trade.

A Costa Rica prostitution network has brought in more than 400 women from the Dominican Republic over the past few years to work as Costa Rica escorts in exchange for residency and travel costs, Director of Immigration, Mario Zamora, reported.

The women are brought from the Dominican Republic to Costa Rica by illegal means through Nicaragua and then married off to poverty-stricken Ticos who are paid as low as $20 to enter into the legal bond. Three lawyers working out of barrio Mexico in San Jose were paid between $170 and $400 to arrange each marriage, which would be performed on a sidewalk or some other public space.

After the initial visit, the women had to return to the Dominican Republic to wait for the paperwork to be sorted out before returning to Costa Rica with their official visas. At that point, the organization required them to work two years as prostitutes in Costa Rica to earn money to repay the loans, visa paperwork, lawyer fees and plane tickets that were covered by the organization.

While some women knew the game plan, others were conned into the Costa Rica sex industry by racking up a debt with the organization for the original travel and visa expenses, leaving them with no option but to pay it off as directed. Many of them had worked in professional positions or were students at universities in their home country, and gave up their homes to pay for some of the relocation expenses.

Costa Rican authorities have been aware of the existence of the network since last November when an immigration bust in Jaco uncovered 58 Dominican females all married to Costa Ricans whom they had never met. Three people were identified as leaders of the prostitution ring, including a San Jose business owner and a female musician.

The organization first tried to get Costa Rican visas for the women, claiming them to be hair stylists and singers, but they had to change their strategy due to the high rate of rejected submissions. Their next option was taking the girls through Nicaragua, where immigration laws are less stringent, and then they crossed over the border illegally to formalize their marriage with a Costa Rica.

Many of the women choose to leave Costa Rica after the two year period is up and they have their citizenship. With the Costa Rican nationality they are able to travel to countries throughout Europe or have a better chance to obtain a visa to travel to the United States.

During their stay in Costa Rica, Zamora said that the girls live in fear, intimidated and threatened by the organization so that they do not leave before paying their debts. None of the women have decided to file a complaint against the network, probably out of fear, which has lengthened the government’s efforts to put an end to the illegal organization.

While Costa Rica escort services are legal, it is illegal to act as a manager or ‘pimp’ of prostitutes, and absolutely illegal to force someone to perform sexual acts for money.

Photo courtesy of La Nacion.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on April 7th, 2008