Seven men and a woman altered the passports of three girls and brought them from Pakistan to the UAE to work as prostitutes, Dubai Criminal Court heard.
The Pakistani girls, all aged 17, each came to the country through Dubai International Airport last year after being offered jobs by the Pakistani defendants, aged between 24 and 41. Their passports were altered to increase their ages.
One of the girls told prosecutors that she was contacted by the woman defendant and her brother – one of the seven men - who offered her a job as a sex worker in Dubai.
“I agreed and they forged my documents and passports so I could come. I worked for only three months then returned home,” said the girl, who added that she returned to Dubai on a visit visa to work for another three months.
On her third visit in December last year, police raided the brothel where she worked and arrested them all.
The second girl worked as a prostitute for six months while the third worked for three months before they were arrested.
Dubai Police raided the brothel in Al Baraha on December 12 last year after receiving a tip-off that the defendants were exploiting underage girls.
"We sent an undercover police officer to pose as a customer. After he was taken into the flat and offered to have sex with one of the teenagers, he gave us the signal and we raided the place," said a 26-year-old Emirati police lieutenant.
During questioning, the woman defendant denied forging the passports and said her only role was to book airline tickets.
Six defendants appeared in court and admitted to charges of human trafficking and facilitating prostitution. The woman defendant denied human trafficking but admitted to facilitating prostitution. The eldest of the defendants remains at large.
The next hearing is scheduled for May 20.
