the philippines is home to one of southeast asia's fastest-growing economies. it's also plague the by a fast-growing social problem. >> a national bureau investigation anti-human trafficking division.

>> human traffickers are preying on young people in deprived areas, taking them to cities where they are forced into labor or prostitution. >> trafficking is a very profitable business. it is a round $50 billion in profits every year. by the underground operations of this crime. >> reporter: the situation deteriorated after typhoon haiyan struck the philippines in november 2013. the typhoon was one of the most powerful in history, with wind speeds reaching more than 320 kilometers per hour. the storm killed more than 6,000 people and destroyed around 1 million homes.

human traffickers swept into the disaster-hit areas almost as soon as the winds subsided. they were more prevalent and more devious than ever before. >> reporter: this 18-year-old woman was taken away and forced into prostitution. her captors plied her with drugs.

>> reporter: on the front lines of human trafficking, we examine the new scourge facing typhoon-hit regions. a port town on the island of latety in the central philippines. with a population of 220,000, it was one of the areas hardest hit by typhoon haiyan. many buildings destroyed by the huge storm have yet to be rebuilt. this impoverished neighborhood is a 15-minute drive from the center of the town. the mega storm demolished homes in an instant.

residents used corrugated iron and any other materials they could find to rebuild. the reconstructed neighborhoods now face a new danger. >> a well-dressed friendly woman

was searching for young people and offering well-paid work. >> this is the tacloban branch of the national bureau of investigation. assistant director earn they stoes macabare says traffickers are changing their tactics. instead of kidnapping and threats they prefer to use nonviolent means to trap their victims. that makes it harder to arrest

the perpetrators. >> we were able to meet a woman who fell victim to the trafficking gangs. this shelter is run by the philippines department of social welfare and development. the shelter accepts orphans and women fleeing from domestic violence. it finds families to adopt the

children and provides occupational training to help the women regain their independence. since the huge typhoon, the center has also been looking after victims of human trafficking. michel, now 21, was trafficked four months after the typhoon. she fell victim after a friend introduced her to a woman, an apparently kind, well-dressed person.

>> michelle is a single mother with two children. before the typhoon, she lived with her parents in an impoverished area of tacloban. her father supported the family working as a day laborer in construction and other jobs. the typhoon destroyed their house. michelle's father lost his job. michelle and her younger sister decided to accept the woman's invitation to work in a karaoke bar. they were taken to the town of abuyag, a two-hour drive from tacloban. the work was very different from the job they had been told about.

>> after four months, michelle and her sister managed to escape. they ran without stopping to the bus terminal and boarded a long-distance bus. when they arrived in tacloban, they sought help from the shelter. soon after, the head of the shelter helped michelle find work as a maid. her younger sister returned home. she was still suffering severe physical and psychological effects from the drugs injected into her.

>> more than one year after returning to tacloban, michelle is having trouble keeping a job. c carmilla tries to find her new employment. she wants to help michelle stand on her own feet. but michelle wants to try something else.

>> after discussing the issue for more than an hour, michelle drops the idea of working abroad and accepts carmilla's proposal. carmilla shows us some data. >> before you land and after you land. before, these are the 41 cases

reported on trafficking. and after haiyan, there were only nine cases. >> this is a list of trafficking cases investigated by tacloban authorities. in 2012, the year before the typhoon, a total of 41 cases were prosecuted. just one year later, however, the number of cases fell to just nine. >> after haiyan there are many unreported cases that did not reach us. so it's difficult to detect.

because first, they purpose ly address just a relative or a person, a friend they know. and some doesn't know if they have been trafficked, they are trafficked already. and also others are -- they just want to have the job. even if they're being trafficked. like there is no other opportunity for them. >> the following day, carmilla visits michelle's youngest sister, mary, who is still struggling from the effects of drug addiction. since leaving carmilla's shelter, mary has been living with her family where she receives treatment.

>> having lost their home in the typhoon the family has spent the last two years moving around, living with relatives and friends. >> mary is on daily medication. she takes sleeping pills and other drugs to control anxiety. carmilla's shelter pays for some of her medicine costs. the mother is still trying to come to terms with her daughter's condition.

>> after taking michelle and her sister in at the shelter, carmilla contacted the authorities. that led to the arrest of the karaoke bar owner who forced the two sisters into prostitution. with carmilla's support, the two sisters are taking legal action to seek compensation from the bar owner.

>> for the past year, carmilla has been doing nightly patrols around tacloban. there are always women who are forced to sell themselves to survive. victims of the typhoon receive money from the government and international organizations. people in impoverished areas don't always have a registered address, making it hard for them to get the support they need. for many, life is still a struggle.

>> this woman previously lived in carmilla's shelter. she had run away from home because her husband was violent.

>> carmilla recommends the woman attend a seminar runs by an ngo to support victims of the typhoon. the seminar offers information

about occupational training in taclob tacloban. participants can also learn how they can borrow money to smatara small business. nightly patrols are one of the efforts under way to help women trapped in poverty more than two years after the typhoon struck. in 2003, the philippine government launched a new organization charged with combating human trafficking nationwide. the interagency council against trafficking. >> council has supported agencies, government and nongovernment agencies. we have three, four areas that we focus on in our efforts.

one is the prevention -- efforts and prevention. efforts on prevention. efforts on partnership. so we have several programs and services for each of these key areas. >> this is a nursing home in manila. a seminar is under way to educate students about the dangers of human trafficking. the seminar is run by an ngo that supports the victims of trafficking.

>> the measures don't stop at education. teams from the national task force are pursuing traffickers across the country. this is the team from manila.

it's trying to catch a man suspected of pimping young girls. >> the subject is a subject called sonny kuba. we don't know approximately -- he's 30 to 35 years old. he's a possible user for drugs. >> the team is led by an investigative officer. the other members are from the manila police and an ngo fighting against trafficking.

>> at 8:00 that evening the team heads toward the stakeout. tondo is one of the poorest districts of manila. the journey takes 40 minutes. first, two members of the surveillance team move into position. they wait for just over an hour. at 10:30 the suspect arrives.

the target is the man tapping a cigarette. the order is given. the team moves in. staff from the ngo lead the young women to safety. the team has been watching this man for two weeks. he's taken away by police. two days later, he's prosecuted

on charges of pimping the girls. the four rescued girls are aged between 13 and 16. they say the man threatened them and they had no choice but to do what he told them. after health checks at the hospital the four girls will be taken to the shelter run by the ngo. the girls rescued today are from manila, but the team say they often rescue women and girls from the areas destroyed by typhoon haiyan. >> that's the ufts thing about

haiyan, it displaced a lot of people. so a lot of human traffickers and perpetrators tried to go there and tried to lure people and bring them somewhere else and exploit their situation. >> it's like a boom, you know, a boom effect. people vulnerable to human trafficking double or triple. so i think we should be more proactive rather than reactive. because we are losing. we are losing the war. we are losing our girls. >> poor filipinos are most at risk when typhoons strike. they're also the most vulnerable to human traffickers. work to protect them from this social menace continues.

hello there. welcome to "newsline." it is thursday, february 4th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. north korea's announcement it plans to launch a satellite as early as next week has japan taking action. on one front, it's stepping up diplomatic efforts with the north. on the other, it's preparing for the worst. it's widely believed the launch is actually a test of a long-range ballistic missile. japanese foreign minister fumio kishida met with u.s. ambassador to japan, caroline kennedy, on wednesday. >> translator: we agreed that we will work closely to urge pyongyang to exercise restraint in corporation with south korea and other related nations.