Who is El Soni? Details explored as Netflix drops Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas

El Soni, full name Ignacio Antonio Santoyo Cervantes was the mastermind behind behind Zona Divas, a popular escort listing URL that was banned in 2018. El Soni hails from Mexico.

The new Netflix true-crime docuseries, Caught in the Web: The Murders behind Zona Davis explores the horrific Zona Divas affair in great detail, revealing how many of the women who were featured on the website were harassed emotionally, se*ually, and financially. Netflix released the four-part series on September 5, 2024. The official synopsis of the show reads as follows:

"In Mexico City's dark underbelly, women seeking better lives become entangled in an online escort network, unaware it will lead to a series of femicides."

---

El Soni was the founder of Divas and also Zona Divas

As shown in Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas, Soni founded Zona Divas in 2010 alongside his partner El Toni and several other Mexican strippers. Before Zona Divas was made, El Soni ran a site called Divas, which was also a listing for escorts.

Soni was previously arrested because of Divas, however, he found a loophole in the country’s law system and as he was released from jail, came up with the idea of Zona Divas, which had the same modus operandi as Divas. But it was a more polished and better place to conceal Divas's darker side.

Although the URL Zona Divas was involved in human trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, and more, El Soni claimed that the site merely was a portal for the girls who wished to advertise their services and had nothing to do beyond that. Soni claimed that they charged their customers for the listing and the girls on the site's banner were paid for being the site's ambassador.

As per El Soni,

"Our company (Zona Divas) does not break any laws. We simply advertise escort services, which in the eyes of many, may be morally reprehensible, but according to Mexico’s laws no crime has been committed."

When 6 models listed on the site were killed between 2016 -2017, several pieces of evidence surfaced online which claimed that Soni was linked to the killing. When asked he claimed that the girls died because of other reasons and had nothing to do with the site, as shown in Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas

The ex-escorts who featured in Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas claim that Soni was an abuser who mistreated the women who worked for him.

The girls who were banned from the site were forced to obey what Soni ordered. They were often forced to do drugs and engage in carnal activities without proper protection. Soni claimed that he was the boss and everyone had to listen to him. Some of the Zona Diva girls also said that Soni was suffering from STD and despite that, he would force the girls to engage in se*ual activities with him without proper protection.

---

Was Ignacio Antonio Santoyo Cervantes arrested ?

Zona Divas was finally shut down in 2018 and as shown in Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas, El Soni, aka Ignacio Santoyo Cervantes was arrested in 2019. He was initially charged with human trafficking, illicit advertising, money laundering, and s*xual exploitation, based on the audio evidence, several witness testimonies, and more.

The detectives who investigated the Zona Diva scandal also found a clandestine photo studio, where the Zona Diva girls were brought to do their initial photoshoot before being listed on the site, which again linked them to El Soni.

Soni was first arrested in 2019 in Quintana Roo and later transferred to a correctional home named Reclusorio Preventivo Varonil Oriente. In 2021, El Soni was sentenced to 29 years to life in prison, however, later in 2021 in another hearing by the court of appeals, all the charges were stripped and Soni was set free.

---

Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas is now streaming on Netflix.