18 Victims Rescued from Cross-Border Human Trafficking Ring in Texas
Criminal illegal aliens among multiple arrests made on sex slavery charges
© press
Police in Houston, Texas have rescued 18 victims from a cross-border human trafficking and sex slavery ring.
Authorities arrested five people involved in smuggling immigrants across the border, against their will, and forcing them into sex work.
At least one of the suspects currently held in custody is a twice-deported criminal illegal alien.
The victims, which includes men, women, and children, were kidnapped in Central America before being brought into the United States illegally where they were held at ransom and forced to work for the traffickers.
© press
On June 5, Houston Police Department investigators received information about a migrant being held in a Houston stash house, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters on June 28.
According to Breitbart, the information led to the arrest of five individuals and the rescue of 18 — including two women and 16 men.
Acevedo told reporters that investigators traveled to an area where they believed the trafficking victims were being held.
During a traffic stop, officers rescued a juvenile victim and detained several suspects, the chief said.
The traffic stop spurred a further joint investigation with the Houston Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations special agents.
The investigation led law enforcement officials to a location in northwest Houston, Acevedo explained, where an undercover money exchange led to the arrest of another suspect and the recovery of an additional kidnap victim.
This arrest led to the uncovering of a stash house “where other victims were being held against their will,” the Houston police chief stated.
“We were able to rescue 16 additional victims from deplorable conditions.”
Acevedo said that women were being held captive and were sexually assaulted for 25 days.
The chief told reporters the 16 men were being held with “little to no clothing” and were forced to work and perform sexual acts.
© press
The investigation led to the arrest of five subjects.
Their charges include engaging in organized crime, sexual assault, and aggravated kidnapping, he stated.
In total, police arrested five suspects.
Those suspects are identified by police as:
- Fredy Moreno-Gill, 26
- Jose Manuel Aviles-Diaz, 26
- Jose Silvestre, 18
- Morris Gudiel Campos Gomez, 39
- Gabriel Salazar-Bautista, 35
Court records from the U.S. Southern District of Texas reveal that Gabriel Salazar-Bautista is a Mexican national who immigration officers deported in 2009 and 2013.
Salazar-Bautista was one of the suspects arrested in the initial traffic stop on June 3.
He now faces a federal charge of illegal re-entry after removal in addition to the Texas kidnapping charge.
In addition to the human trafficking victims, police recovered four guns, more than $10,000 cash, and 19 grams of cocaine.
