From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement
SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Several people have been arrested as part of
a federal crackdown on sex trafficking along the Figueroa Corridor in
South Los Angeles.
Operation Broken Blade was carried out at multiple locations, including residences and the Stadium Inn and Spas, a motel near South Vermont
Avenue and 104th Street.
That location is only about two blocks away from the notorious Figueroa Corridor, an area of South L.A. known for human trafficking and underage prostitution.
The on-site manager of the motel, Mukeshkumar Rambhai Ahir, 45, was
among the nine people arrested Wednesday. He is facing a series of
financial crimes connected to human trafficking. As agents combed
through the motel, Federal Financial Crimes investigators told ABC7 that
Ahir was not a trafficker but accused him of profiting off prostitution.
"The money told the story. As alleged, individuals associated with this location hid large amounts of illicit cash, manipulated records, and
structured deposits to conceal proceeds from sex trafficking
activities," said Jose Gonzalez, IRS Criminal Investigations.
In total, federal authorities have arrested 10 people as part of the
operation.
Many of those arrested are members or associates of the well-known
Hoover Gang, which authorities say "largely controlled sex trafficking
and prostitution" along the corridor. A federal indictment unsealed
Wednesday lists 51 victims, some as young as 14.
Those members are facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex
trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking through force, fraud, or
coercion, drug trafficking conspiracy and concealment money laundering.
Federal prosecutors allege "the Hoovers worked together to recruit new
victims via social media or in person, focusing on vulnerable minor
girls and young women, particularly those with financial or emotional
struggles or who had run away from home or in the foster care system.
Victims were recruited via false promises of a luxurious lifestyle, intimidation, and actual or threatened violence. Pimps also supplied
their victims with drugs such as oxycodone and amphetamines to create addictions that the pimps could exploit."
"They are targeting and preying on girls in the foster care system who
are the most vulnerable. This is about using a human being to make money
for yourself," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.
Investigators say some of the alleged violent pimps branded their
victims.
"They will beat them. One of them bit a piece of meat out of her cheek
in her face, down to the cartilage," Essayli said. "One of them was
forced to have an abortion and then was forced to work that same night."
Officials said they want the crackdown to continue.
Last year alone, the Los Angeles Police Department rescued 54 under
girls from the Figueroa Corridor. Law enforcement sources say as of this
week, the LAPD has already found 70 underage girls working "The Blade."
https://abc7.com/post/least-6-arrested-part-federal-sex-trafficking-inves tigation-socal/19428154/
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