Naman Shrestha
Netflix’s ‘Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas’ is a four-episode true-crime docuseries that recounts the mysterious and criminal activities that used to run in the name of an online escort service portal called Zona Divas. It also features interviews with former escorts of Zona Divas, mainly Latin American women, in order to learn their perspective on the entire debacle. All the crimes and murders that took place were directly connected to the co-founder of the website — Ignacio Antonio Santoyo “El Soni” Cervantes.
Ignacio Antonio Santoyo “El Soni” Cervantes Ran an Online Escort Service
Not many are aware of the fact that the first online escort service that Ignacio Antonio Santoyo “El Soni” Cervantes founded was Divas, for which he was even sent to prison. But when he was released without any severe consequences, he co-founded another escort service, Zona Divas, being mindful of the mistakes he made with the previous one so as not to land in trouble with the law again. However, he was accused of using multiple agencies of Mexico City, Playa del Carmen, and Cancun, all in the state of Quintana Roo, to allegedly triangulate and launder money he earned by subjecting hundreds of women from South American countries like Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia to sexual exploitation.
In spite of the authorities doing their best to find incriminating evidence against the alleged human trafficking structure that he ran behind the facade of Zona Divas, El Soni managed to elude justice for several years. In the second half of the 2010s, multiple audio recordings of El Soni surfaced, which have been alleged to showcase the level of control and violence he used to exercise over the escorts who worked for him and Zona Divas. It was reported that one of the audio recordings featured him threatening Kenni Finol. Considered one of his alleged targets, Kenni was murdered three months later.
As per the other audio recordings, El Soni allegedly treated hundreds of other escorts in the same manner. So, when five of them, including Wendy Vaneska, Kenni Finol, Genesis Gibson, Karen Ailen, and Andreina Escalona, ended up dead, fingers of suspicion were pointed at El Soni too, since he was directly linked to them. Surrounded by all the controversy, Zona Divas was officially shut down around April 2018, after almost two decades of operation.
Ignacio Antonio Santoyo Cervantes is Leading a Life of Freedom Today
Just a year after Zona Divas was shut down, Ignacio Antonio Santoyo “El Soni” Cervantes was arrested in April 2019 in Playa del Carmen in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo and charged with human trafficking for sexual exploitation purposes. After taking him into custody, the authorities transferred him to the Reclusorio Preventivo Varonil Oriente, where he was locked up until his hearing. Almost a couple of years later, in February 2021, he was sentenced to 29 years in prison for the charges against him.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of evidence, his conviction was overturned in November 2021 after he appealed to the court, despite three Venezuelan women filing complaints against him. As of today, Ignacio Antonio Santoyo “El Soni” Cervantes is walking the face of the earth as a free man, while there might be a chance of him being linked to the Union Tepito cartel. Although Zona Divas has closed for good, another online escort service portal, called La Boutique, has replaced it.
