Rockville Company Fights Human Trafficking With Technology

A breakthrough new device developed by a Rockville company aims to help the shipping industry stem the tide of human trafficking.

GateKeeper USA, Inc. recently unveiled the Container Automated Monitor System, or CAMS device. The small electronic device is about the size of a personal digital assistant and can be attached to any shipping container, said John Leontakianakos, GateKeeper’s senior vice president of finance. Its sensors can detect the presence of any living thing ranging from humans to biological contaminants like E.coli, viruses or fungi. It also can detect narcotics, hull ventilation breaches and traces of light.

If a living organism is detected, the device communicates with GateKeeper’s network and local authorities are notified.

GateKeeper spent six years and $200 million developing the first-of-its-kind device, Leontakianakos said, and reactions from the shipping industry have been positive. Sales are expected to begin in early 2012, he said.

“It’s been extremely well-received,” he said. “Unsolicited demand has been huge.”

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, about 79 percent of human trafficking victims are sexually exploited and 18 percent are forced into labor, usually as domestic workers. It is unclear how many people are affected, but a conservative estimate of the number of victims worldwide at a given time is 2.5 million, according to the U.N.

“It’s extremely widespread, especially when you’re dealing with Third World countries,” Leontakianakos said. “The numbers are staggering.”

State legislators have been working to address the issue in Maryland. In April, lawmakers passed the Human Trafficking Victim Protection Act, which allows people arrested for prostitution to have their records expunged if they can prove that they are victims of human trafficking.

“The laws against trafficking are still not strong enough,” said Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville, the bill’s lead sponsor. “We’re trying to make the laws for human trafficking comparable to those for drug dealers. We’ve strengthened laws but haven’t made them equal yet.”

Forehand also led the way on laws defining human trafficking and making it a crime in Maryland, increasing penalties for trafficking from misdemeanors to felonies and allowing the state to go after people who assist traffickers, such as drivers who transport victims.

Forehand spoke at held by the City of Rockville's Human Rights Commission in December.

A bill that would allow police to seize the assets of human traffickers, similar to laws regarding drug dealers, failed to pass during the last legislative session though Forehand said she plans to try again.

“This kind of thing happens up and down the East Coast, particularly around airports and in cities,” she said. “…I think that Maryland is ahead of other states with these laws. It’s important to give severe penalties to traffickers. It’s really awful.”

Victims, mostly young women, are commonly lured to the United States and other countries with the promise of work and are forced into prostitution, Forehand said. They are prevented from going to school and often get arrested, leading to criminal records that limit their future job opportunities, she said.

“It has been a problem for a long time and it’s growing,” she said.