This page describes exploitation and abuse. Need to report something? How to report →
Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?
What happened
Police officers in the Philippines arrested and questioned Rachel Sabal after receiving information from Edmonds and Howe. After questioning, Sabal was arrested and held in custody for investigation of human trafficking. Police in Malaysia performed a search of an apartment where Edmonds and Howe suspected Ejercito was being held. Though they found evidence that she had been there, there was no continuation of the investigation after that. When Ejercito turned up at the police station in Malaysia, she was interviewed while her captor, Kang, sat in the room with her, preventing her from speaking honestly about her situation. Howe suggested that Kang be removed from the room and once he was, Ejercito admitted that she was being held against her will. Though there is no evidence, both Edmonds and Howe believe that, based on the behavior of the police and Kang, that they had a preexisting relationship. Later, after Dr. Ng had arrived at the police station and Ejercito's passport had been returned, the police permitted both Kang and Dr. Ng to walk free and no trafficking charges are known to have been filed against them. However, in 2006, Philippine official organized an operation to rescue the 15 other victims that were being held captive by Dr. Ng and Kang.
Response and intervention
Ejercito's uncle, "Troop" Edmonds received the ransom call from her kidnappers on October 5, 2006. He and former FBI special agent Jerry Howe then travelled to the Ejercito's home in Cebu, in the Philippines to try and find out where Ejercito had been taken and by who. They learned from Ejercito's mother that she had accompanied her daughter to a church where her daughter and 15 others had been told by Rachel Sabal to meet for the trip to Malaysia. After tracking down Sabal, she revealed where Ejercito and the others had been taken: Penang, Malaysia. Edmonds and Howe enlisted the help of local law enforcement to search the neighborhood Sabal had directed them to, but the apartments were empty. A few days later, Ejercito was brought to a local police station by Kang in order to try and convince the police that Ejercito was there of her own free will. Edmonds then convinced Kang and Dr. Ng (who joined his partner at the station after the Americans had arrived) to return Ejercito's passport. Ejercito left with her uncle and Howe, and Kang and Dr. Ng were also allowed to leave. Investigation by the victim's uncle and his friend, a former FBI agent.