Justice Department Announces Additional Indictments in Sex Trafficking Ring

For more than two centuries, people have looked to the United States as a land of opportunity, where their dreams of a better life could come true. It's that image of America that made young girls in Guatemala easy targets for six members of a Guatemalan family and three others who have been accused of running a sex trafficking ring.

According to a press release by the U.S. Department of Justice, a 50 count superseding indictment against the nine people was unsealed after new charges were added to the original December 2006 indictment. Added charges include sex trafficking of minors, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and importing and harboring aliens for the purposes of prostitution. Five of the 12 victims discussed in the indictment are minors.

The defendants in the case are Gladys Vasquez Valenzuela, 36; Mirna Jeanneth Vasquez Valenzuela, 26; Maria De Los Angeles Vicente, 28; Albertina Vasquez Valenzuela, 49; Gabriel Mendez, 33; Luis Vicente Vasquez, 31; Pablo Bonifacio, 30; Flor Morales Sanchez, 33, and Maribel Rodriguez Vasquez.

Seven of the nine defendants have been held without bond since the original December indictments. Morales Sanchez was arrested yesterday morning and made her first court appearance in the afternoon. Rodriguez Vasquez remains at large.

The Justice Department has been investigating the alleged sex trafficking ring since October 2006, when a source came forward with information. The Justice Department freed two victims in November, with the remaining victims being rescued in December when seven of the defendants were taken into custody.

"The defendants in this case are accused of dreadful crimes including luring desperate women to the U.S. with false promises only to enrich themselves by forcing their victims into prostitution and slavery," said Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Office J. Stephen Tidwell.The FBI and our partners with the Human Trafficking Task Force in Los Angeles are dedicated to finding victims of human trafficking, who endure horrific abuse under appalling conditions, and to finding those responsible for their suffering."

Special agent in charge of the ICE office of investigations in L.A. Robert Schoch agreed, "These young women were enticed into coming to this country by promises of the American dream, only to arrive and discover that what awaited was a nightmare."

According to the press release, the investigation was a cooperative effort by the F.B.I., the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Department if Labor and the Los Angeles Police Department.

Source: US DOJ Press Release (http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/August/07_crt_597.html)