Sex Slavery in America

White slavery in America? The Department of Justice reports that between 2001 and 2005, U.S. Attorneys investigated 555 suspects involved with violations of Federal human trafficking laws. In October 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) was enacted. Prior to that, no comprehensive Federal law existed to protect victims of trafficking or to prosecute their traffickers.

Organized, sophisticated criminal groups increasingly commit human trafficking; and is the fastest growing source of profits for organized criminal enterprises worldwide. Profits from the trafficking industry contribute to the expansion of organized crime in the U.S. and worldwide.

TVPA Goals
• Prevent human trafficking overseas
• Protect victims and help them rebuild their lives in the U.S. with Federal and state support, and
• Prosecute traffickers of persons under stiff Federal penalties

Two in three human trafficking defendants had prior sex transportation or alien smuggling offenses. These are not nice people that we are dealing with here.

According to the Business Travellers Against Human Trafficking, more than 700,000 women, children and men are trafficked across borders every year into forced labor and sex slavery. Thousands of these women and children are trafficked for travelers to use as prostitutes. As you can see, 555 suspects are investigated, and more than 700,000 trafficked, there is a lot of work to be done.

I wanted to tell the story of Ana. This occurred about five years ago when I first got to Vice. A young Russian National, Ana, came to the United States to stay with her aunt in sunny California. It sounds nice, right? What Ana didn't know was that her aunt, Alena, was a prostitute. When Ana got to her aunt's apartment, she was threatened to not contact the police, and to not leave the apartment. Alena also took Ana's passport and return plane ticket so that now she was hopeless; she didn't know the area, didn't know the language, and had no friends here.

Ana finally got up the nerve to go see the building manager of the apartment complex (she would see her as she would go to various locations with her aunt, mainly to further the sex industry trade). Ana looked afraid when the non-Russian speaking manager was in front of her. Luckily, the manager had a friend that spoke Russian and got onto her cellular phone. Ana told the friend on the phone how her aunt was abusing her in the sex industry, and then the manager called Vice.

(About two months earlier, I had tried to work Alena for a prostitution violation. She had a set-up in the next apartment complex over, fully installed with a bed and a red light... not much else. I was so nervous as I was new to Vice that I didn't get the violation. A week later one of the veteran investigators did the same thing but got the violation and she was arrested for solicitation of prostitution).

Two of my partners, upon receiving the information from the manager, went to the location and got Ana out of the apartment while Alena was out for the day. We started to interview Ana, using an FBI Russian interpreter. We found out that Alena had taken Ana to a local bikini bar, for them both to get jobs; neither did. We also drove her around to find out where Alena had been taking her to meet with "Johns." We found the hotel within another city, which was a huge break in the case. We now had the ability to cooborate her story with the actual "Johns" that paid Alena to have sex with Ana. Ana also stated that Alena took her to Vegas for another encounter.

Alena was later arrested and charged with Pandering, or basically, being a madam. During the trial, after Ana had testified, Alena began to speak, and the interpreter translated what Alena was saying. Without using foul language, Alena told her that she was going to get her and to F@*# off. Alena was sentenced to 26 months state prison time for pandering.

Before and after the trial, our investigation team kept moving Ana into different woman's shelters, and taking her out to shop for clothes and other things that she wanted, and needed. Even when we didn't have the translator, we still had a good time. We slowly taught her English, and we learned a little Russian in return.

We had considerable trouble with Aeroflot Airlines at first. Alena had destroyed Ana's plane ticket, and her flight time was missed. After about one month of going back and forth with them, they finally agreed to put her on a flight back to Russia. It was a sad day when we took her to the airport as we had all become very fond of our reluctant victim. It took almost two months to get her back on the plane, and we got to see her numerous times. I would think that if you asked her, she would tell you that we showed her the good time that her own blood, her aunt, never did.

The day that Alena was released from state prison, the feds were there to arrest her for their own case. They charged her with 7 counts, including sex trafficking and transporting a person for prostitution. She later plead guilty and received 18 to 21 months in federal prison. During her time in federal prison waiting for her trial, she was caught calling friends in Russia to try to dissuade anyone from talking to the police, especially Ana. She later admitted to the obstruction of justice charges in court.

Some of us have language or other barriers with other persons. This doesn't mean that we can't lend a helping hand to a person in need. Although it was our job to protect Ana, our whole unit certainly went above and beyond to ensure that Ana actually left the United States knowing that some one cared for her... Even if we didn't speak the same language.