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Accused human-trafficker unlikely in Campbell River, as police call for calm

Campbell River RCMP are thanking citizens for their vigilance but calling for calm after reports that a person charged in connection with a human-trafficking case was in town. RCMP spokesman Const.
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RCMP

Campbell River RCMP are thanking citizens for their vigilance but calling for calm after reports that a person charged in connection with a human-trafficking case was in town.

RCMP spokesman Const. Maury Tyre congratulated citizens for their concern but asked people to contact police directly with their suspicions instead of going to social media.

The call came after online reports Thursday that Victoria woman Shermineh Sheri Ziaee, who is facing charges in Saskatchewan related to human trafficking, was in Campbell River.

Those reports were neither corroborated nor confirmed and appear to be without substance.

Ziaee, 36, was released on bail following a hearing from Swift Current on Feb. 5. She is facing a number of charges related to human trafficking.

Three men were also arrested are facing similar charges.

Remanded in custody were Ziaeeā€™s twin sons, Seyed Kourosh Miralinaghi and Seyed Kamran Miralinaghi, both 19. The Nanaimo men are being held at Regina Provincial Correctional Centre.

Shawn Alexander Kelly, 24, of Victoria, has been released on bail.

The arrests were made after RCMP stopped a three-vehicle convoy on Jan. 28 in Saskatchewan. Police found two young women without identification in the vehicles.

Tyre said he knows of no Campbell River connections with the case.

But he warned human traffickers typically target girls between the ages of 12 and 16, and often pick their targets on social media.

Traffickers will exploit weaknesses, often creating them by offering alcohol and drugs, or taking pornographic photos and threatening to expose or humiliate the girls or tell their parents.

Meanwhile, RCMP say reports of a woman screaming and struggling to get out of a vehicle are unrelated to human trafficking.

The woman managed to get away and police arrested a 26-year-old man after stopping his vehicle. Police are preparing charges of forcible confinement and assault.

RCMP said the man and the woman are known to each other.