MOSCOW, July 30 (RIA Novosti) – Two suspected ringleaders of a Ukraine-based gang that allegedly smuggled disabled people into Russia to work as street beggars have been apprehended, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday.
The news comes hot on the heels of the US State Department’s 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report, which said last month that Ukrainian authorities were not doing enough to fight human trafficking.
One of the suspects, a Moldovan man, was nabbed trying to walk across the border with a one-armed Ukrainian who authorities believe might have fallen victim to the scheme, the Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement.
The other suspect, a Ukrainian woman, was detained the very same day, July 11, the service said, without disclosing the suspects’ names.
The duo is so far only being investigated in connection with the illegal border crossing, but the service said it was working to uncover more victims of the alleged beggar-trafficking ring.
In February, the International Organization for Migration ranked Ukraine as the country with the worst track record on human slavery in the world, a claim based on the number of human-trafficking victims applying for help.
