A Victoria man charged with human trafficking is back in a Saskatchewan jail one week after he was granted bail.
Shawn Alexander Kelly, 23, from Victoria, is one of four people arrested at the end of January when Swift Current police stopped a trio of suspicious vehicles for speeding — when they pulled the group over, police discovered two unidentified women they believed were being exploited.
On Feb. 5, Kelly was released on no-cash bail.
Kelly was placed on numerous conditions which included keeping the peace, abiding by a curfew, and living in an approved residence in North Battleford, Sask.
Police say he was arrested for allegedly breaking a condition that prohibited him from having any weapons.
On Feb. 14, Kelly appeared in Swift Current provincial court on the new charge. He was remanded back into custody.
Three other Vancouver Island residents face human trafficking-related charges in Saskatchewan as well.
A co-accused, Shermineh Sheri Ziaee, 36, also of Victoria, was released on Feb. 5 along with Kelly, on a $1,000 bond. Ziaee has since returned to Vancouver Island.
The other two accused include Ziaee’s 19-year-old sons, Seyed Kourosh Miralinaghi and Seyed Kamran Miralinaghi, of Nanaimo, B.C., who were both denied bail and remain in custody.
All four accused were pulled over on Jan. 28 by Swift Current RCMP who noticed a group of three vehicles speeding closely together on the Trans-Canada Highway at a rate of 153 kilometres per hour.
When speaking to the drivers, police said they became suspicious of the relationships between them. According to police, two young female passengers were located in separate vehicles, each with tinted windows, sitting in the back seat with no identification.
Police said there were some indicators of human trafficking.
As a result, all four were jointly charged with transporting a minor for the purpose of exploiting them; procuring a person to offer or provide sexual services; harbouring a person who offers or provides sexual services for consideration or exercised control or movement of that person; knowingly advertise an offer to provide sexual services and; receiving financial benefit from a crime.
Ziaee faces an additional charge of possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
The two female passengers were from British Columbia and were not related to any of the accused. In order to protect their identity, their names have not been released.
The trafficking case is scheduled for Swift Current provincial court on March 11.
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