'They followed their gut': N.B. RCMP say wellbeing check led to rescue of human trafficking victims

The New Brunswick RCMP says a wellbeing check that led to the rescue of three women from alleged human trafficking in Moncton earlier this month was the result of someone following their gut.

Officers performed the wellbeing check on a young woman at a residence on Ward Street on April 12.

Police say they determined the woman was reported missing from Ontario and she was a victim of human trafficking.

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Officers attended a Dieppe residence on Gauvin Road and found another young female who was reported missing from Ontario on April 16.

Police say they also found an adult woman from Quebec who was a human trafficking victim.

An 18-year-old woman, Saphira Bastien, was arrested at the scene and is facing charges.

Bastien was remanded into custody and is scheduled for a bail hearing on Friday.

'They did the right thing'

Insp. Chantal Farrah of the Codiac Regional RCMP is calling it a "major investigation" with two dozen members involved.

Farrah says human trafficking cases like these are not obvious to detect and residents need to be “switched on” when they see something out of place.

“I can tell you that the wellbeing check on Ward Street was specifically that. Someone saw something that looked out of place. They did the right thing. They followed their gut. They called us,” she told CTV Atlantic’s Derek Haggett. “Because of that person, we saved that young person. That's tremendous."

Farrah is encouraging anyone who may be involved in human trafficking to reach out to police.

"I'd like to stress to anyone that if you are a victim of human trafficking, if you're being controlled, if you're in a situation and you don't know how to get out of it, we're there to help,” she says. “It's never too late."

But what should people look out for?

"Be aware. If you're seeing people that aren't from here, they look confused, they're young, they’re not sure what they're doing here, all kinds of different signs. If something's not right, ask us for a wellbeing check,” she says.

'Trust their gut'

Julia Drydyk, the executive director at the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking, said human trafficking has been taking place in the Maritimes for decades.

“Research that was conducted by the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking in 2020 shows that there are very distinct human trafficking corridors moving from Halifax through Truro into Moncton often moving victims to keep them isolated and to avoid law enforcement,” said Drydyk.

More often than not, Drydyk said the trafficker knows the victim and it looks far more like intimate partner violence than kidnapping.

“So it’s really important that Canadians trust their gut. If something feels off, they should follow that,” said Drydyk.

The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline [phone]) is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.