Cops bust sex racket of desi Russians

Cops bust sex racket of desi Russians
Preetu Nair | TNN

Calangute: For the first time ever in Goa, the police have busted a racket of Indians duping people by posing as sex workers from Russia, Portugal and other nations.
This came to light when the Calangute police picked up three transsexuals from outside a popular tourist joint in Baga on Friday night. The racket has been continuing for some time now. Police informed that these transsexuals would gyrate in shacks and offer themselves for escort services. Besides the three picked up, there are that many if not more plying their trade in the North Goa belt.
A police officer from Calangute said, “They dance in shacks at Calangute and Baga and also work as commercial sex workers. However, sometimes they even cheat and rob clients.” This is the first time a racket of this sort has been busted in the state.
The stereotype image of hijras—sari clad woman, with hairy arms, hands clapping and gruff voice—has changed. The new age transsexuals or eunuchs, who have gone in for sex change operations, even silicon transplants, pose as sexy ladies and offer their services.
It is not uncommon to see a beautiful, sexy ‘lady’ sway to music on a shack as customers drool over her. The show goes on through the night and in the early morning, the ‘lady’ leaves the shack with the highest paying customer.
Upasna (24) was born a hijra, but in the business she was popular as a Russian escort, dancing in shacks in Calangute and Baga. To survive, she even learnt Russian. “In the world of men and women we are neither. Because we are different, everyone shuns us. So, we find various means to survive,” said Upasna. Transsexuals head for Goa’s coasts
Calangute: Upasna, a transexual who was arrested by the police of Saturday for “moving around in a suspicious manner”, had first come to Goa about seven years back. She was then 16.
By the time she was 19, she found herself out of ‘business’ in Mumbai and shifted base to Goa. “I started working as a bar dancer from the age of 17 in Mumbai. When the government closed down the bars, I was forced to become a prostitute and decided to come to Goa during the tourist season.
As there was a high demand for transsexuals by tourists, I settled down in the state,” said Upasna. She has a large clientele, mostly Indian middle aged men and even elderly foreigners.
“Business is good during the tourist season. The shack owners are fine with us dancing in their premises as it attracts customers. The shacks do good business and we earn,” said her friend Julie (21). At night, Julie pretends to be a Portuguese national and also acts as an escort, partnering men to clubs at Anjuna and Vagator that insist on couple entry.
Sophia from Rishta, an NGO that works to create an awareness about HIV/AIDS amongst transsexuals said, “They are operating in the coastal belt. We are trying to create awareness about HIV/AIDS and also trying to bring about a behavioural change in them.”
The trio were bailed out on Saturday evening after they gave an undertaking of good conduct before the Mapusa sub-divisional magistrate.

2008 May 19 Times Of India Goa

Deadly cocktail of drug trade and police inaction-Foreign Dealers Carve Out Territories On Beaches

Deadly cocktail of drug trade and police inaction
Foreign Dealers Carve Out Territories On Beaches

Panaji: With apologies to Vasco Da Gama, welcome to the tourist paradise that’s now facing a drugs-laced foreign invasion, fatal and much worse than the Portuguese one.
With Goa becoming a haven of drugs, rave and sex, its beaches have become a major market for foreign narcotics dealers. While Russians have taken over the drug business in Morjim and Arambol beaches, Israelis run the show at Vagator. The Scotts trade in Calangute and Baga and the Nigerians and Kenyans dominate Candolim.
The Goans themselves are not too far behind. In the once Hippie heartland of Anjuna, local boys are the main dealers. In 2005, the International Narcotics Control Board, India, had released a list of 248 major drug peddlers in the country, 90% of whom operated in North Goa. A year later, Calangute MLA Agnelo Fernandes raised the issue and also presented a list of drug dealers in the assembly. But everyone is “untouchable’’ in this sordid nexus between the peddlers, police and locals.
“I fear that soon the international drug lords will fight to gain dominance on Goa’s turf,’’ Fernandes said. But home minister Ravi Naik brushed it aside.
Investigations reveal that every tourist season popular drugs like cocaine, MDMA and ecstasy tablets are imported and sold at trance or rave parties. This year alone, approximately 500 kg of cocaine has been smuggled in by Nigerians and sold to locals by Kenyans. One gram of cocaine costs Rs 3,000 to 4,500. An ecstasy tablet ranges between Rs 400 and Rs 1,000 and a gram of pink and white powder of MDMA costs between Rs 1,000 and Rs 4,000, depending on whether it’s tourist season. The Israelis mainly deal in LSD, which costs about Rs 400 per drop.
The trade involves not just dealers and runners, but also ‘hiders’ and a ‘Mr Fixer’. “While the ‘hider’ hides the drugs for the dealer, ‘Mr Fixer’ coordinates the trade and ensures that it goes on peacefully. While the former gets Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh a month, ‘Mr Fixer’ gets a commission on every matter he sorts out,’’ said a rave party organizer.
A shack owner in Anjuna said the cops protect the trade as they too earn a cut. Interestingly, top cops admit there are some in the force who are complicit in the drug racket, but say they are helpless.
“Every cop and local knows who the drug dealers are and how the mafia runs in North Goa. Yet the Goa police’s Anti-Narcotics Cell seem to go after drug abusers rather than catch dealers,’’ said Fernandes. TNN