Trafficking & Smuggling

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Dec 17, 2024 -  Through Dec. 1, there have been 147 human trafficking-victim contacts in Riverside County in 2024, with 91 law-enforcement investigations launched as a result. That’s according to Denise Rodriguez Bowman, director of the Forensic Services and Victim Advocacy (FSVA) unit at the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center in Rancho Mirage, and the Coalition to End Human Trafficking, Riverside County (CEHT).  

Dec 16, 2024 - A Massachusetts man has been arrested in Michigan and charged with sex trafficking a victim across four states, the U.S. Attorney said Monday.

Melando Streety, a/k/a “Prez,” 41, of Lowell, was charged with sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and five counts of transporting a person to engage in prostitution, Acting U.S. Attorney Josh Levy said in a statement.

Dec 11, 2024 - NEW YORK (AP) — Two luxury real estate brokers and their brother have been charged with luring, drugging and violently raping dozens of women over more than a decade, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in Manhattan.

State charges were also filed Wednesday in Florida against two of the brothers and a third man stemming from three alleged sexual assaults.

Dec 11, 2024 - MILWAUKEE (WLUK) -- A Milwaukee woman was sentenced Wednesday for nearly two decades of sex trafficking offenses.

Colette Mahan, 41, received a 19-year sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty in May to one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion.

According to a news release, Mahan -- who officials say was known as "Pimpin' Amanda" -- trafficked numerous female victims over a period of at least 17 years "using a combination of false promises, threats and extreme physical violence."

Victims included minors as young as 14 years old.

Dec 10, 2024 -  VIENNA, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Human trafficking has risen sharply due to conflicts, climate-induced disasters and global crises, according to a United Nations report published on Wednesday.

In 2022, the latest year for which data is widely available, the number of known victims worldwide rose to 25% above 2019's pre-pandemic levels, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's Global Report on Trafficking in Persons said. A sharp fall in 2020 had largely disappeared by the following year.

June 18, 2024 -  Miriam thought she had landed her dream job in Thailand, but when she landed, she was smuggled across the border to Myanmar, where she was trained to scam the vulnerable out of thousands.  Director of Global Advance Projects Judah Tana tells us how they managed to get Miriam out. 

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Dec 3 2024 - Dozens of children were found alone this week at the U.S.-Mexico border, including a 10-year-old boy who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on Thanksgiving Day and a 4-year-old girl from Honduras found by officials.

According to Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez, more than 100 unaccompanied children have encountered agents on the nation’s southern border since Sunday, Nov. 24.

Nov 25 2024 - CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Four people face charges in Hamilton County who state authorities say were involved in an illegal sex trafficking operation.

The operation, conducted last week, aimed to disrupt human sex trafficking activities in the Hamilton County area.

Nov 24 2024 - A Southern California woman was arrested for allegedly operating brothels at the skin care spas she owned in Ventura and Orange counties.

The suspect was identified as Amanda Xia, 44, from Yorba Linda, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

Nov 22 2024 -  A federal jury in the District of Minnesota convicted two men today for their roles in a human smuggling venture that resulted in the deaths of a family of four Indian nationals, including two children. 

Nov 6, 2024 - Arizona voters passed Proposition 313 to require a life sentence for anyone convicted of child sex trafficking.

The measure eliminates judicial discretion that currently allows sentences ranging from seven years to life depending on the facts of a case.

Nov 1, 2024 - For 12 long years, police say Terrance Jones, 52, ran an illegal and brutal sex trafficking and drug operation out of his home in a heavily populated area of Philadelphia. 

Nov 1, 2024 - ST. LOUIS – Two recent sex trafficking busts – one at the Renaissance Hotel in April 2023 and another at River City Casino this past February – reveal a pattern.

The hotel case involved missing teens from foster care in Texas. The casino case involved a minor who had been living in a children’s group home.

Oct 23, 2024 - Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries and two others were arrested Tuesday as part of a criminal investigation into the alleged sex trafficking of more than a dozen victims, according to the FBI and federal prosecutors. 

Oct 9, 2024 -  An alleged sex trafficking ringleader known as La Barbie, who is said to have links to the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, has been arrested in El Paso, Texas, according to a leaked Border Patrol memo seen by the New York Post. 

Oct 8, 2024 - Police investigators from across the globe joined forces last month in a digital operation to identify human trafficking suspects and victims, according to Europol.

The latest edition of the policing agency’s EMPACT hackathon featured participation from 27 countries, including 19 EU member states plus Albania, Brazil, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine and the UK.

Sep 30, 2024 - Following a police crackdown on a kidney trafficking network in Delhi, two mid-day correspondents discovered that the illegal trading of organs has moved online, particularly through messaging platforms such as Telegram, which has earned the moniker of the mobile Dark web. The mid-day investigation revealed that these online kidney racketeers take advantage of loopholes to abuse the needy and poor.  

Sep 28, 2024 - Bahama Minister of National Security the Hon. Wayne Munroe said despite global efforts to combat it, Human Trafficking keeps growing.

“It thrives where there is poverty, a lack of education or any area in which there is a conflict,” the National Security Minister said at the Opening of the Bahamas National Neighbourhood Watch Council Two-Day Workshop on Human Trafficking at the Paul E. Farquharson Centre, Police Headquarters on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

 Sept 27, 2024 - In less than 24 hours, Rohini Selvaruban would leave her country for the first time. Her recruiter had called that morning in September 2022 to say her flight was booked. She didn’t complain about the short notice; this was her family’s one chance to escape poverty. 

 Sept 27, 2024 - A mother and her two daughters received prison sentences for their roles in a scheme to force undocumented children from West Africa to work in the Chicago suburbs, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Nawomi Awoga, 75, and her daughters, Marina Oke, 38, and Assiba Lea Fandohan, 35, were convicted last year of conspiring to conceal and harbor two minors from the country of Benin.

 Sept 27, 2024 - PORTLAND, Ore. -- The U.S. Attorney's Office for Oregon says today a mother and daughter from Tigard were arraigned in federal court today.

The U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) says they were indicted for using force and threats to compel three victims, including a minor, to work for little or no pay in an adult foster care home.

 Sept 26, 2024 - One of California's most conservative Republican lawmakers has scored an unusual win for the second year in a row by getting Democrats to embrace a tougher approach to protecting children from sex trafficking and institutional abuse. 

 Sept 26, 2024 - People looking to purchase a child for sex in California will now face harsher penalties. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1414 into law, which was authored by Sen. Shannon Grove (R–Bakersfield) to combat human trafficking and protect California’s children. 

 Sept 25, 2024 - Carnation Spa on Northeast 58th Avenue near Sandy Boulevard is located in a mustard-color two-story building with windows plastered with ads and flashing red LED signs that read, “WELCOME MASSAGE OPEN.”

Carnation is part of a boom across Portland of massage parlors that appear on websites where men review their sex purchases. In 2019, according to data from a nonprofit that combats human trafficking, Portland had 36 of what it calls illicit massage parlors. Five years later, the watchdog says, that number has tripled to at least 114.

 Sept 25, 2024 - In a significant legal victory for victims of human trafficking, Shannima Yuantrell Session, also known as Shalamar, was found guilty by a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida on 13 charges related to sex trafficking involving nearly a dozen women and girls. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 19, where he faces a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison. 

Sept 24, 2024 -  Border Patrol agents are warning that kids as young as 8 are being drugged and smuggled into the US by traffickers posing as their parents or family members — and nobody knows how common the horrifying practice is. 

 Sept 24, 2024 - In a case filed in New York, the star has been accused of kidnapping, drugging and coercing women into sexual activities, sometimes through the use of firearms and threats of violence.

Mr. Combs has denied all the charges, entering a not guilty plea on Tuesday, 17 September.

 Sept 21, 2024 - Illegal organ trafficking is growing across Africa. The sophisticated operation is worth over $1 billion annually and targets the vulnerable. Lack of regulation and huge demand for organs drive the trade. 

 Sept 19, 2024 -  Some of the largest criminal enterprises in the world are recruiting America’s young people to transport migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to areas deep within the United States.  

 Sept 18, 2024 -  Monday night’s indictment of Sean “Diddy” Combs escalated the rapper and mogul’s legal peril significantly. The charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution followed a high-profile federal investigation, including a raid on Combs’ Los Angeles and Miami homes. Civil suits filed by Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and others allege sexual abuse, physical assault and a litany of other disturbing allegations that have tarnished his reputation. 

 Sep 18, 2024 - Great strides are being made toward bringing equality and understanding of the LBGTQ community; however, strong societal discrimination still remains, particularly in the area of victim identification and service provision. Various studies have shown that LGBTQ individuals are more likely to be bullied by their peers, ostracized by their communities, or be vulnerable to human trafficking 

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Sept 19, 2024 -  The U.S. Department of Transportation Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking has issued a new 175-page report detailing challenges and successes in combating sex and forced labor trafficking in the transportation sector. 

 Sept 16, 2024 - The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of Public Affairs released information on Monday, September 16, 2024, regarding the outcome of a 26-day trial in Kansas regarding six members of a former cult being convicted for a years-long forced labor conspiracy which included minors according to the DOJ.

 Sept 9, 2024 - Women were flown from New York City to San Jose with promises of legitimate jobs before they were victimized in brothels operated in residential neighborhoods, according to a police report filed in court. 

 Sept 11, 2024 -  A 29-year-old Dallas man has been indicted in New York for sex trafficking and brutally abusing two teenage girls from Texas. The prosecutor described the abuse as "horrific," noting that the man – Donald Roberson – even had his nickname, "Blue Cheese," tattooed on their faces.  Roberson was indicted on multiple charges, including sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal sexual act, sexual misconduct and sexual abuse. 

 Sept 5, 2024 - Forced labor and sex-trafficking are on the rise in New Jersey, and the state now has an independent unit within the state police department handling such cases.  “You could say it’s an epidemic in New Jersey, it is growing quite rapidly,” said Detective Sgt. Rick Hershey, who supervises the New Jersey State Police Human Trafficking unit in South Jersey. 

 Sept 4, 2024 -  Los Angeles city and county leaders, along with federal officials, briefed the public Wednesday on actions being taken on a three-and-a-half-mile stretch of road that authorities say is ground zero for human trafficking.  

At the downtown press conference, officials detailed their collective crackdown on the illegal activity on a three-and-a-half mile stretch of South Figueroa Street, from Gage Avenue to the 110 Freeway, where authorities found at least one victim as young as 11 years old.

 August 29, 2024 - The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics launched a new initiative to strengthen the state's ability to help human trafficking victims.

Victims of human trafficking now have another tool they can use to get help.

'You Are Not Alone' is a project from OBN's Human Trafficking Unit that's being displayed throughout the state with posters, billboards and stickers. State officials said it's meant to educate and empower victims with the resources and support they need.

  August 29, 2024 -  HELENA, Mont. – Reported human trafficking cases in Montana have more than doubled since 2021, according to the Montana Department of Justice.

In 2023, Department of Justice agents tracked 147 human trafficking cases in Montana. This is a 39 percent increase from 106 cases in 2022 and over double the 68 cases reported in 2021. 

Since 2015, when there were just seven cases, there has been a 1,400 percent increase in reported incidents.

  August 29, 2024 -  A sweeping crackdown on an alleged human trafficking operation in metro Atlanta led to the arrest of three individuals and the rescue of multiple victims last Thursday.

The coordinated effort involved Roswell police, neighboring police departments, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security, all of whom executed search warrants across several locations in the region.

 As detectives delved deeper, they uncovered a broader network of illicit activities, including massage parlors operating as fronts for prostitution and trafficking across multiple metro Atlanta locations. 

  August 23, 2024 - Former Republican presidential candidate, businessman and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is calling attention to human trafficking, a global human rights crisis, by telling a heartbreaking story, inspired by true events, of a young boy whose dreams were minced when he was betrayed and thrown into child slavery in the U.S.  

 "City of Dreams" follows Jesús, a Mexican boy who was shattered to find his soccer ambitions had ended when he was trafficked across the U.S. border into Los Angeles and forced into sweatshop enslavement. 

  August 20, 2024 - The FBI's southern region is made up of 16 states. Between 2013 and 2022, over 50% of the human trafficking cases in the U.S. were reported in those states. 

Last month, the FBI released its human trafficking and drug offenses special report. The report shows there were over 8,700 cases reported nationwide. 

And between 2013 -2022, 51.46% of reported human trafficking cases were reported in the 16-state southern region, which includes Georgia. 

  August 8, 2024 -  SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Attorney’s office in Utah is partnering with local law enforcement agencies along as they celebrate their Night Out Against Crime.

One particular crime federal prosecutors are really focusing on is human trafficking, calling it the modern day form of slavery; an international, multi billion dollar business for the traffickers.

Officials say it’s happening in Utah and they’re doing what they can to try and combat the problem.

 July 31, 2024 - More than a dozen people were busted for alleged sex trafficking at Comic-Con in San Diego last weekend in a sting operation that also rescued 10 victims, including a teen.

Undercover agents posing as sex buyers spent three days at the star-studded bash making contact with victims and working to identify their traffickers, California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said.

The operatives also posted advertisements soliciting sex to identify buyers.

Jul 29, 2024 -  In 2023, Spain identified 664 victims of sex trafficking, including 12 minors, primarily from Colombia and other South American countries. This figure represents an increase of 100 identified victims compared to 2022, suggesting the underlying activity is returning to prepandemic levels. 

Jun 10, 2024 -  An alleged multistate human trafficking ring forcing immigrant women into prostitution. The mysterious killing of a former police officer in South Florida. Attacks against police officers in New York. The arrest of a drug dealer in Chicago.

Local and federal officials say these apparently unrelated crimes have a common denominator: Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang that originated in a Venezuela prison and has slowly made its way south and north in recent years.

May 31, 2024 - KCRA 3 Investigates spent a year talking to survivors, advocates, lawmakers and law enforcement about the problems they're seeing on the streets and what they think needs to change. 

May 19, 2024 As part of a growing push to raise awareness about human trafficking, the California Highway Patrol held training sessions Thursday to discuss the two types of human trafficking — commercial sex trafficking and labor trafficking — dispel myths, and highlight risk faced by vulnerable youth. 

  Jan 22, 2024 - With January designated as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Capitol Weekly is examining a little-understood plague on our society – sex trafficking. 

 Feb 28, 2024 - COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Attorney General Alan Wilson is demanding answers from the Biden Administration on the “trafficking of migrant children.”

Wilson is demanding these answers with 22 other attorney generals from other states.

This comes after a recent report found that migrant children in the custody of the federal government are being released into unsafe situations, including human and sex trafficking.

Sep 18, 2021 - Decent people the world over are appalled when they learn that slavery exists today. Maybe they’ve heard the UN figure that more than 40 million people are trapped in slavery. Maybe they’ve learned that human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world.

Typically when a person learns these facts, they want to do something to combat this crime.

Dec 20, 2017 - “You just have to dance, we can make a little money like that.”

That’s what Shandel, then 13, said her boyfriend told her at a party he had taken her to some 12 years ago.

And that’s how it all began, Shandel, now 25, recalled. Gradually, the man she thought of as the only person who loved her or even cared for her, demanded more. Much more – and she said he would physically abuse her if she refused.

Sex trafficking is a type of human trafficking and is a form of modern-day slavery. It is a serious public health problem that negatively affects the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Human trafficking occurs when a trafficker exploits an individual with force, fraud, or coercion to perform commercial sex acts or work. 

Human trafficking, also called trafficking in persons, has no place in our world. As both a grave crime and a human rights abuse, it compromises national and economic security, undermines the rule of law, and harms the well-being of individuals and communities everywhere.  It is a crime of exploitation. 

Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons, is a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts. The coercion can be subtle or overt, physical or psychological.  Exploitation of a minor for commercial sex is human trafficking, regardless of whether any form of force, fraud, or coercion was used. 

According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, or TVPA, human trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of someone for the purpose of compelled labor or a commercial sex act through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. According to federal law, “a commercial sex act means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. Anything of value could include food, shelter, protection, gifts, or clothing. Where a person younger than 18 is induced to perform a commercial sex act, it is a crime regardless of whether there is any force, fraud, or coercion.”​ 

The 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report) introduction examines and highlights how governments and a wide range of stakeholders have used partnerships to advance anti-trafficking priorities and goals. The introduction also shares innovative approaches and specific examples of partnerships that have complemented and supported the success of prosecution, protection, and prevention efforts. 

Free online training -  OnWatch™ is a survivor-led training designed to empower you to spot, report, and prevent sex trafficking where you live, work, and play. Through true survivor experiences, industry experts explain the key indicators of trafficking, as well as how you can support a survivor’s path to freedom.