Bill Melugin
@BillMelugin_
NEW: HSI and San Antonio PD busted a human sex trafficking operation yesterday involving Venezuelan traffickers and victims, all in the US illegally.
Per source, one trafficker is believed to connected to the Venezuelan Tren De Aragua prison gang. Disturbing details in federal complaint:
According to HSI, after being advertised online by their traffickers, two Venezuelan women were being forced to engage in commercial sex in motels for up to twenty hours per day, and had to give up to 70% of their earnings to their traffickers, two Venezuelan illegal aliens, one of whom helped smuggle one of the victims into the US for a $30,000 fee. The traffickers did not allow the women to leave motels, carried a gun, and threatened violence against them and their families in Venezuela if they did not comply. The suspects admitted their roles in the trafficking to federal agents, who recovered a loaded handgun from a vehicle belonging to the suspects. One suspect told HSI and San Antonio PD he bought the gun from a friend in Chicago.
Each woman was being sold for $100-200 for 15-60 minutes of sexual activity. One was being forced to pay down her debt for being smuggled into the US by one of the traffickers.
The Feds have charged the suspects with sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and they are facing 15 years to life in prison if convicted.
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