VENEZUELAN National and businesswoman, Mayelin Cordova, was, on Wednesday, remanded to prison on nine counts of Trafficking in Person (TIP).

Cordova, 41, of Second Avenue, Bartica, who is currently serving a six-month sentence for operating a brothel, appeared virtually before Magistrate Christel Lambert at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court and pleaded not guilty to the nine charges.

Particulars of the charge alleged that Cordova between March 15, 2023, and April 30, 2023, trafficked nine Venezuelan females from Venezuela to Guyana and exploited them between Crusher Hill and Barakat Backdam, Cuyuni Mazaruni River, Region Seven.

The victims reported the matter to the Guyana Police Force, and members of the Trafficking in Persons Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters which led to Cordova’s arrest.

The businesswoman was remanded to prison until July 5, 2023