Woman rescued from human traffickers

Chris Hansen Correspondent • Profile

October 5, 2006. "Troop" Edmonds and his Philippine-born wife, Ravina, are at home in Oregon when they receive a panicked call from overseas.

Troop Edmonds: I’m sitting there. I'm trying to watch a football game. And all of a sudden my wife's cell phone rings. My wife gets really upset.

On the other end on the line is their 22-year-old Filipino niece, Lannie Ejercito…

Troop Edmonds: She was scared. Crying. And in total desperation.
Chris Hansen: And what did she say?
Troop Edmonds:”Get me out of here!”

And then someone on the other end takes the phone away from Lannie.

Troop Edmonds: She said -- if you want your niece back, you have to send us $1,200 and we'll give you a bank account to send it to. And she hung up.
Chris Hansen: They wanted the money wired to this bank account. And did this strike you as a ransom demand?
Troop Edmonds: Yes.

It sounded like kidnappers. But all he knew for sure was that his niece was desperate.

Troop Edmonds: She wanted out of there. She didn't know what else to do so she called the only person on the planet that could possibly help her.

Troop and his wife had just finished putting Lannie through nursing school in the Philippines and thought, on balance, things were looking up.

Chris Hansen: How would you best describe her?
Troop Edmonds: Good-looking, you know. Got everything to live for.

Lannie graduated, but then failed the national nursing exam, which meant her dream of coming to America to work as a nurse was on hold.

Her desperation was palpable as the phone call continued. Lannie provided additional details which led her uncle to fear the worst.

Chris Hansen: What did you think Lannie had gotten herself into?
Troop Edmonds: I thought she was going to be ending up being raped and then put into a life of-- of prostitution.

In other words, he worried that his niece had fallen into the shadowy world of human trafficking, where many are lured by false promises to places thousands of miles from home and find themselves thrown into the sex trade.

Troop Edmonds wasn't sure where Lannie was exactly or who she was with but it was clear she was in trouble.

Her family knew she'd been offered a job as a hotel singer in Malaysia -- 1500 miles away from her home in the Philippines.

But when she got to Malaysia, her passport was taken and she was told to sign an 8-year "contract" meaning she would be in Malaysia, against her will, until she was 30.

Lannie had been trafficked.

Ambassador Lagon: In essence, it's slavery.

Ambassador Mark Lagon says human trafficking is now one of the the fastest growing forms of international organized crime.

Ambassador Lagon: Analysts in the U.S. government estimate there are between 500,000 and 1.1 million people who are trafficked across borders from country to country.

That's every year. Lagon, who leads U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking, says it's basically a bait and switch.

Ambassador Lagon: They're told, "We can get you out of this awful economic situation you're in with better work, the conditions will be good, the pay will be good” and often times it turns out to be the most gross form of sexual exploitation.

And Filipinos like Lannie are a frequent target. There is no shortage of horror stories.

Anna: I work here as a prostitute. I lost my virginity here, and then I got sick. I want to go home. Please help me.

Meet "Anna." Like Lannie, she was trafficked to Malaysia from the Philippines. Anna thought she was going to be a waitress, but when she arrived at this club in Malaysia she was told that “servicing customers” entailed going home with them.

She was forced to sign an official-looking contract which spells out how much she owes her traffickers.

Anna: Air ticket, 500 ringgit. Cash advance, 1,600 ringgit.

Experts call this "debt-bondage." Anna calls it a nightmare. On her first night in Malaysia, her virginity was sold for $80.

Anna: I can do nothing because my boss tell me I need -- I need to do that. If i did not do that, I cannot pay my debt. I will not -– I cannot go back to Philippines.

Locked inside an apartment above this club, she was forced to service a variety of customers, including Americans.

Two months ago, the Philippine embassy in Malaysia rescued Anna. She is free now, but not well.

Anna: Maybe i have -- I'm afraid I have AIDS.

As for Lannie Ejercito, her uncle Troop Edmonds -- a decorated former Marine -- wasn't going to let that happen to his niece. His wife gave him his marching orders.

Troop Edmonds: She said, “You've got to get my niece. Get her. And don't come back without her.” That's my assignment.

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