It was a humid night in October 2023 and Nancy Thalía Ramos Roque, 27, was on her way home from a bar in Puerto Maldonado, a city in the Peruvian Amazon. She had been drinking cheap Brazilian beer with her friends and dancing to songs that reminded her of her childhood, and she teetered unsteadily down the street in her tight white shorts. 

As she approached her flat, there was a sudden, blinding glare of headlights. Before she knew what was happening, ten police officers raced towards her. They shouted her name and dragged her inside. Her nine-year-old daughter cried as officers flooded into the cramped living room. Ramos’s mother, who had been babysitting, demanded to know what was going on. No one answered her. 

The police filmed the arrest, and the next morning Peruvian news channels broadcast footage of Ramos looking dazed on the sofa, her leg jiggling with nerves as officers peppered her with questions. Newspapers described her as the cabecilla, or ringleader, of a regional human-trafficking network, operating under the alias “Sandra”. Ramos later admitted that she had been paid to transport migrants across the Brazilian-Peruvian border. Most then journeyed onwards towards the United States.