CMC – Grenada police Wednesday confirmed that they had detained seven Nepalese students, reported missing in St Lucia over the last weekend.
In a brief statement, the police said that the students are now in custody “after arriving in Grenada via boat on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 from St Lucia”.
It said the six males and one female “are believed to be victims of human trafficking” and that a “Ghanaian national who is reportedly a resident of Trinidad is also in police custody assisting with police investigation”.
The students are among a group of Asians who have been left virtually stranded here as a result of what has become known as the “Lambirds Academy affair”.
Four men, including three from India, are facing human trafficking charges in St Lucia after the authorities uncovered the alleged scam that brought more than 20 young people here from Nepal and the Philippines.
The group claimed that they had responded to an offer of education in hospitality, cruise and business management, from Lambirds Academy which is based in northern town of Gros Islet in St Lucia.
The Asians said they each paid $US9, 000 for the courses and $US13,000 to get to St Lucia, but on arrival here were told by law enforcement authorities that they had been duped. Some of the students have returned to their home with the assistance of the International Organisation of Migration (IOM).
The seven students detained in Grenada have been identified as Dipak Sapkota, 22, Chandra Bahadur Thapa, 22, Ankit Dhakal, 18, Pradip Adhikari, 23, Dipak Bhujel, 20, Sharma Kafle-Arjun, 32, and Numkala Tiwari, 20.