Model Vera Kravtsova, 26, was murdered and had her organs removed after being lured by a false job offer at Thailand. The death was confirmed last week.
Originally from Belarus, the young woman traveled to Bangkok believing she would participate in a selection for a fashion agency, but ended up falling into the hands of an international sex and organ trafficking ring, according to initial investigations.
Vera was also a singer and even participated in the Belarusian version of the program The Voice. According to information released by the local press, after arriving in Thailand, she was taken to Myanmar, where she was forced to live in slavery and subjected to constant abuse.
Preliminary reports indicate that the criminal group, with Chinese origins and support from local militias, held several women captive for sexual and financial exploitation. The victims were forced to hand over their passports and had their cell phones confiscated, preventing any contact with family members.
According to the Mash portal, criminals demanded that Vera “keep her appearance impeccable” to extort money from wealthy clients. However, after failing to generate profits, the young woman would have lost “her value” to the traffickers. Weeks later, Vera’s body was found without organs, confirming the gang’s suspicion of involvement in human organ trafficking.
The model’s family was informed of her death days after the body was discovered, but, without the resources to repatriate the body to Belarus, they heard from local authorities that it would be cremated.
The case gained international repercussion and once again exposed the growth of criminal schemes on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, where hundreds of foreign women are deceived with promises of employment and end up in networks of exploitation. It is estimated that more than 100,000 women may be imprisoned in similar conditions in the region.
Young man who was also lured managed to escape
Another similar case was that of Dashinima Ochirnimayeva, aged 24, from Siberia, who was also recruited under the pretext of a career as a model.
She managed to escape after an operation conducted by Russian diplomats, who helped identify part of the trafficking network responsible for the crimes.
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