In a TikTok posted on Dec. 15, Ria Lazo (@riaxla) and her friends were approached by a group of people who invited them to a boat while dining at a Nobu restaurant. Lazo said she suspected they were involved in human trafficking in the video’s overlay text.
“You have her I’m going to have these two,” a man is heard saying to Lazo and her friends. Lazo alleges that one of the women flashed her. After being asked to come with the group of people on a yacht called the “Octopussy,” Lazo and her friends alerted the staff that they were “afraid” and “[needed] help.”
Lazo and her friends hid in the bathroom for 20 minutes, after which Nobu staff came to get them. The staff apologized to them and seated them at a new table.
“The Nobu workers came in clutch and saved us,” Lazo wrote in the video’s overlay text. A Nobu manager told the group of people that Lazo and her friends felt threatened by them and she didn’t “appreciate [their] inappropriate behavior.”
It’s unclear what the group’s intentions were. The video has received over 500,000 views since it was posted 6 days ago.
“Regardless [of] what it really was, it was really harassment,” Lazo commented on the video. “Purpose of me posting this is for awareness.”
Many in the comments of Lazo’s video referenced Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, both of whom abused girls and women by luring them onto Epstein’s property.
“‘Shall we take them back to the yacht?’ That screams Maxwell and Epstein,” commented @_primeday. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
“Jeffrey and Ghislaine vibes,” wrote @gabrielanthony80.
Others were just happy that Lazo and her friends were alright.
“Imagine if it was girls who were wasted or naive,” commented @tiktokjason8.
“Had a friend once get drugged by a couple,” commented @serendestini. “We were out at a bar. They tried to throw her in their car.”
“Trust your gut,” wrote @asmr.sparklez. “If it felt off it prob was… no reason to stick around and find out.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Lazo and was not able to get in contact with Nobu.
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