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TRAFFICKING Through San Antonio Texas

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TRAFFICKING Through San Antonio Texas Empty TRAFFICKING Through San Antonio Texas

Post by NiteSpinR Fri Mar 05, 2010 1:38 am

Web Posted: 06/02/2007 (notice the date)
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Details emerge in human trafficking case in San Antonio.

Psst. You want to marry a rich man who will buy you anything you want?
How's $600 to buy what you'd like simply for accompanying men on trips? We can make it happen, al otro lado — on the other side.

That pitch allegedly made by a trio of women sounded like gold to some impressionable teens and a young woman not making much in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

Three girls agreed to be smuggled to the United States in mid-May and once they were in or near San Antonio, they were primped, new clothes were bought for them and they were given English lessons. Their understanding was that they did not have to have sex with the men.

But rather than the glitz they were promised, they were sold in an underground world for prostitution, according to prosecutors and documents filed in federal court Friday.

The girls were delivered to a man in San Antonio referred to in court records as the "boss," who had them strip, inspected their bodies and told them they were going to be having sex with men for up to five years to pay off their smuggling debt.

The "boss" said he had paid $3,000 apiece for two of the girls and said he would pay even more to get them ready for other men, witnesses told investigators, according to their statements. Anyone who fled would die, and their families would also suffer the same fate, the statements said.

"It may sound naive to us, but these are young minors, who are being told, 'You can make good money, come with us,'" Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlie Jenkins said in court Friday. During their ordeal, "one of these men pulled out a gun, and the (victims) were threatened to be killed."

Jenkins also said the eldest of the three suspects in custody, Isabel Consuelo Ochoa, 58, told the girls that all they had to do was play the part: "We're going to prepare you, and if you're not stupid, you can make a lot of money," Jenkins quoted her as saying.

Such is the story unfolding as federal authorities investigate the city's first case charged under a 7-year-old federal law that targets human trafficking and slavery. The paperwork filed Friday alleges more girls were approached, and shows agents may have broken up the ring as it attempted to set up an underground house for prostitution.

Justice Department records show such cases are a fraction of the thousands of overall immigrant smuggling cases. Between 2001 and 2005, federal prosecutors handled 555 "matters" involving human trafficking.

Of those, 129 involved the sex trafficking of children, 155 were sale into involuntary servitude, 134 were forced labor, 63 were peonage/involuntary servitude and 74 involved slavery or "other" unspecified types.

The probe, which came to a head last week, also snared Ochoa's daughters: Consuelo Pilar Ochoa, 31, identified largely by witnesses as "Pilar" and Maria de Jesus Ochoa, 29, identified by the victims as "Jessica."

All three suspects are charged with sex trafficking of children, punishable by between 10 years and life in prison. They were denied bail Friday, while their lawyer, Jeff Scott, told U.S. Magistrate Judge John Primomo that the women are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Isabel Ochoa denied the allegations in a hearing this week.

One of the victims was found near Dilley on May 25. The two others later were found at a house linked to the Ochoas in the 10700 block of Grand Haven in Northeast San Antonio, court records show.

Two of the victims — identified in court documents and their witness statements as "V," 17, and "S," 15 — told agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that V was approached at her job in Nuevo Laredo by "Pilar" and Isabel.

Pilar asked V "if I knew any girls that might be interested in traveling and getting married with someone who would buy them anything they wanted," according to V's statement.

V recommended S, and the Ochoas returned later to pick them up, also persuading a third victim, a friend of the girls identified only as "M," 22, to join the group. A fourth girl who initially agreed to join the Ochoas for work changed her mind, M's statement said.

One of the victims told investigators Pilar had to bring to San Antonio a total of 10 girls between 15 and 20 years old. Pilar took V, S and M around Nuevo Laredo to pitch the offer to more girls, but none of the ones approached accepted, M's witness statement said.

"The job supposedly involved accompanying men on trips," S's statement said. "Pilar stressed that there was not going to be inappropriate behavior."

"She told me that all I would be required to do is accompany men to parties, reunions and just travel in general," M's statement said. "Pilar told me that if I wanted to have sex with the men, that it would be something I would have to work out on my own."

Shortly after being smuggled into Texas, the girls were shuttled between houses or apartments linked to the Ochoas in Dilley, Pearsall and San Antonio. Then the girls were delivered to the "boss" — a man the Ochoas explained had a lot of rich friends, and another man, for an inspection.

The boss "told us we were a business to them," V's statement said.

After they were examined nude, they were threatened if they tried to flee. They then were told they would work under "Jessica" and given the instructions of what it would take to pay off the debt for being smuggled here.

"At the house, we were to attend to customers there, dance, disrobe, and have sexual relations with the customers," V's statement said.

M appeared in court this week and is being held as a material witness. The other victims are in protective custody.

Agents began investigating the case after the victims' families contacted authorities in Laredo to say the girls hadn't contacted them in days. The families said one of the victim's relatives was told by Pilar in mid-May that the girls would be working at Campbell's Restaurant in Pearsall.

That restaurant, other court records show, was raided by federal drug agents in 2004. Pilar was indicted in the case and pleaded guilty to federal drug-trafficking charges, which resulted in a 39-month sentence.

She's accused of the latest crime while she was out on bond waiting to turn herself in for the drug case.
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TRAFFICKING Through San Antonio Texas Empty Flash Forward to 2010

Post by NiteSpinR Fri Mar 05, 2010 1:43 am

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Web Posted: 01/21/2010

Human trafficking task force holds first meeting.
AUSTIN — Unaffected by the shots fired outside the Capitol on Thursday, the inaugural meeting of the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force brought more than 100 people together to tackle a problem that's often hidden and hard to quantify.

It was the first opportunity for law enforcement agencies, nonprofit groups, federal agents and social service workers to meet since the Legislature created the task force last year.

Several San Antonians attended the meeting, as either members of the task force or invited guests, including Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed.

The goal of the task force, which was given a four-year life, is to bring law enforcement agencies, as well as government support services, together with nonprofits to identify and aid victims of trafficking crimes, such as forced labor and prostitution.

To do this, it will go through four phases: assessment of the issues, identification of recommendations, implementation of the recommendations and final evaluation.

A statewide report on the issue is to be presented by December.

Reed said educating the public about human trafficking is key.

“We're one step ahead of other cities in that we already have developed our own task force,” Reed said. “A lot of people think trafficking is just international. A lot has to be done to educate the public and law enforcement to recognize labor and sex trafficking can be domestic.”

Bexar County currently is prosecuting two trafficking cases of forced prostitution of underage girls from San Antonio.

Attorney General Greg Abbott said the task force faces plenty of challenges from both the community's and law enforcement's lack of understanding to a lack of services for victims.

Out of some 17,000 trafficking cases nationwide each year, Texas accounts for about 20 percent, Abbott said.

And because the task force is basically an unfunded mandate, cooperation among its members is vital, he said.

“This is a growing problem that demands a unified front,” Abbott said. “We're trying for greater collaboration among crime victims' services and nonprofits to provide a more unique way to provide shelter, clothes and transportation” to victims.

Rene Ochoa and Jerry Garza, the two investigators on the grant-funded Bexar County Sheriff's Office human trafficking unit, said the first meeting provided networking opportunities as well as some practical tips for them in the field.

“Fortunately, we have our own coalition started,” Garza said. “But the more people you know, the better.”

Chris Burchell, a law enforcement officer from San Antonio who heads up a statewide nonprofit to fight child exploitation and trafficking, said the creation of the task force is a step in the right direction.

“Although the state has not provided funding yet, many of the independently funded organizations have joined forces as a coalition,” he said.
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TRAFFICKING Through San Antonio Texas Empty DEA Reports That San Antonio Is A Major Drug Hub

Post by NiteSpinR Fri Mar 05, 2010 1:58 am

Alamo City Used To Distribute Drugs Nationwide
Jessie Degollado, KSAT 12 News Reporter
POSTED: Thursday, March 4, 2010

SAN ANTONIO -- Multi-billion-dollar enterprises rely on hub cities like San Antonio to get their products to market.

Drug cartels are no different.

Except now, federal drug agents have said the cartels are pushing even more shipments toward San Antonio.

Drug shipments originate on the border and are run up Interstate 35, what DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mauricia Fernandez called a "free trade highway."

The DEA's chief of intelligence Gary Hale said loads worth millions of dollars must make it out of Mexico and not be seized at the border.

Hale said drugs travel through San Antonio to points of distribution in the U.S.

Hale said many marijuana loads stay in San Antonio for sale, storage or distribution in warehouses or on ranches. He said cocaine winds up in neighborhoods.

Hale said there's also cash in bulk: millions of dollars in drug profits merely pass through, heading South.

Hale said someday San Antonio may become more than just a regional hub for drug traffickers.

He said the Alamo City could be used to distribute drugs at wholesale volume levels or for money laundering.
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TRAFFICKING Through San Antonio Texas Empty Re: TRAFFICKING Through San Antonio Texas

Post by NiteSpinR Fri Mar 05, 2010 2:17 am

I'm almost 50 years old. I've been hearing about drug runners on Interstate-35 most of my life. It's a long road that stretches from one end of Texas to the other. You can drive it on any given day and see potential drug runners pulled over by Law Enforcement.
People called Coyotes have been smuggling people over the border and down I-35, way before the phrase "Human Trafficking" was coined. Legal or illegal that was always an immigration issue before. Many innocent people just trying to make a living have died at the hands of these people smugglers. And they are just now creating a Task Force ?
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TRAFFICKING Through San Antonio Texas Empty Re: TRAFFICKING Through San Antonio Texas

Post by Wrapitup Sat Mar 06, 2010 7:54 pm

I have absolutely No doubt this is fact. crying

At least Texas legislature seems to be well aware of the growing problem. And, those poor, naive girls!!! Horrible to think men take advantage of them like that, but it happens all the time.

Thank you so much for the articles, Nite Spinner.
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