Kriti Mehrotra
With Netflix’s ‘Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas,’ chronicling the dark side of Mexico through the femicide of five escorts affiliated with the same online network, we get an original unlike any other. This online network in question is none other than Zona Divas, which was established by Ignacio Antonio Santoyo “El Soni” Cervantes alongside a few others in 2007, only to do more harm than good for its users.
Zona Divas Was Launched As An Advertising Service
It was back around the early 2000s when Ignacio “El Soni” Cervantes had come up with the idea of having a place where foreign women could voluntarily offer their services to earn money, resulting in the creation of Divas. However, he was soon arrested alongside all his cofounders on charges of prostitution as well as human trafficking since officials uncovered evidence of them actually enticing women from across the globe to come to work for them. Nevertheless, because it was arguably the first charge for him, he was released following a rather lenient conviction, shortly following which he came up with Zona Divas.
The way this was different from the original was that it removed itself from any accountability and responsibility by clarifying on its page that they were merely an advertising agency. They claimed they weren’t employing women for escorting in any way, shape, or form – instead, they were only giving them a platform to make their services publicly known to those who might want it. The fact it offered a forum for clients was also a significant point, yet the aforementioned production has indicated that their claims were all lies – they had continued to exploit women.
Zona Divas Shut Down For Good in 2018
Despite Zona Divas’ vehement assertions that it was primarily a publicizing organization, there was still a lot of heat on it owing to the fact it was incredibly popular and actually also operating in areas filled with cartels and gangs. Thus, they seemingly ended up affiliating themselves with Union Tepito, following which some extremities also began coming to light. According to the show, the women were forced to work, give most of their earnings to them in one way or another, and then abused and extorted if they tried to leave.
However, the worst of it began in February 2017, as a Venezuelan escort listed on Zona Divas, Kenni Finol, was found murdered in a hotel room – many believe she was killed because she was planning on leaving. After Wendy Vaneska Delima Cortes, there was Genesis Yuliani Gibson Jaimes, Andreina Escalona, Karen Ailen Grodzinski, and finally, Kenni Finol in February 2018, with most of them having been tortured to death. Kenni was actually the girl on the site’s banner and was found in such a horrific state that Zona ended up announcing it was closing its operations for good out of fear for its clients’ lives.
La Boutique VIP is a Website Just Like Zona Divas
According to reports, La Boutique VIP is another escorting service advertising website that came to light not long after Zona Divas closed operations, but its exact owner is unknown. However, it’s imperative to note that the local federal authorities have since linked these two websites via their founders as well as shareholders, indicating that it’s highly likely Ignacio “El Soni” Cervantes is the one behind this website, too. Though we should mention that this site is a lot more tasteful than its alleged successors, even if it refers to the explicitly clad women displayed as “jewels” rather than humans or simply escorts – the cover-up is off, but it does maintain that it is just another advertising agency for escorts.
