Tag: Trafficking

Moving pillowcase leads to discovery of venomous snakes, other reptiles hidden in car at border

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Several snakes emerging from beneath a patterned pillow on a bed

U.S. border agents found a collection of endangered reptiles when they noticed a pillowcase moving in a woman’s car after she was stopped at the border with Mexico due to an outstanding arrest warrant. Georgina Bribiesca Chavez, 66, of Tijuana, Mexico, was arrested earlier this month on wildlife trafficking charges after allegedly participating in a yearslong reptile smuggling scheme. She is accused of bringing exotic reptiles into and out of the U.S. with her alleged trafficking partner, Salvador Pelayo, who was arrested in July on a federal charge similar to hers, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

Chavez was arrested while trying to cross the border from the U.S. into Mexico on Aug. 10, the office said. Realizing she had an outstanding arrest warrant related to a wildlife trafficking investigation, Customs and Border Protection officers took Chavez into custody and seized the vehicle.  As they searched the car the next day, officers discovered a hidden compartment behind one of its rear seats, which contained pillowcases that were tied and taped shut, according to the release. When one of the pillowcases appeared to move, the officers transferred them to the San Diego Zoo to be examined. Staff at the zoo opened the pillowcases. Inside, they found 60 abronia lizards, four venomous yellow-blotched palm pit vipers, three caimans, one baby crocodile and one indigo snake. Several of those species are considered endangered or threatened, and are protected by international agreements.

Stolen exotic reptiles were found inside pillowcases in a car that was trying to cross the U.S. border into Mexico. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California

The three caimans died before they could receive care at the San Diego Zoo, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. “Even after her arrest, Chavez never told CBP officers about the live animals in her car, leaving them abandoned for nearly 24 hours in the August heat in San Ysidro,” the news release said. Officials said all of the other stolen reptiles were considered stable and under the care of the San Diego Zoo. “These animals were not cargo — they were living creatures subjected to dangerous conditions for profit,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement.

During her first court appearance on the trafficking charges on Tuesday, Chavez pleaded not guilty, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. They said her alleged partner, 28-year-old Pelayo, has also pleaded not guilty. Citing court documents, the office said Chavez and Pelayo started trafficking exotic reptiles into the U.S. in 2023 with the intent to sell them. Their activity prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to open an undercover investigation into the alleged scheme, which found that the two were involved in multiple undercover sales of protected turtles. They are accused of sending and receiving wildlife at shipping centers in the San Diego area.  Authorities have alleged that Chavez and Pelayo made tens of thousands of dollars from the sales of exotic animals. More from CBS News

Source: Moving pillowcase leads to discovery of venomous snakes, other reptiles hidden in car at border – CBS News

May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your purpose.
Psalm 20:4

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Nine Arrested in Federal Crackdown on L.A.’s Sex-Trafficking Corridor

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FBI and ATF agents outside a suburban house with police vehicles and flashing lights

Federal agents on Wednesday raided a section of Los Angeles that has become one of the country’s most notorious child sex-trafficking corridors, arresting nine people on charges related to selling girls as young as 14 for sex. The operation took place near a 3.5-mile stretch of Figueroa Street known as “the Blade,” where girls go from car to car in stilettos, soliciting customers for sex to reach their traffickers’ nightly quotas. The girls can be seen wearing hair bows and dangling condoms from Hello Kitty lingerie, their faces tattooed with their traffickers’ monikers. A federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday listed more than 50 victims, and officials identified an additional five during the sweep. “We really don’t know how many victims are out there,” Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said in an interview on Wednesday.

“The more of these arrests we do, we get more information, we get more evidence, we get into their phones, we discover more and more victims.” Six of the defendants were identified by officials as members of the Hoover Criminal Gang, which formed in the late 1960s and claimed its territory in a swath of south Los Angeles that includes the Figueroa corridor. For years, the gang has controlled much of the sex trafficking there, and many of its motels. Among those arrested was the manager of a local motel, the Stadium Inn & Spas, where prosecutors said victims were held and exploited. An additional arrest on Monday was linked to the case. The operation on Wednesday came nine months after The New York Times published an examination into the city’s sex trafficking crisis, drawing widespread outrage and national attention to the abuse many of the girls face on Figueroa Street.

Court documents described how the traffickers worked together to recruit and control their victims, including by branding the girls’ faces, necks and buttocks with tattoos of their street names and logos. The authorities said Cameron Lockett, 23, beat one of his victims on her back and ribs, bit off a chunk of her cheek and then pressured her to lie when she was taken to the hospital for stitches. Officials said Caleed Mouton, 26, ordered one of the girls to get an abortion. Hours after the procedure, he required her to continue having sex with customers, according to the indictment. Prosecutors also accused Jorge Melendez, 23, of punching a 14-year-old victim in the face at least five times and dragging her by her hair because she did not meet her quota. “The whole thing, from top down, is just absolutely disgusting and horrific,” Mr. Essayli said. “When it comes to victims, these are among the most vulnerable victims that we see in the work that we do.”

The names of the lawyers representing Mr. Lockett, Mr. Mouton and Mr. Melendez were not available. Many of the girls on the Figueroa corridor have been recruited out of the Los Angeles County foster care system; others have run away from home and were in need of financial and emotional security when they were befriended by traffickers on social media. Several of the defendants arrested on Wednesday had promised girls luxurious lifestyles before turning violent, according to the indictment, hooking them on amphetamines and oxycodone to create addictions they could exploit. Editors’ Picks Years After High School, Their Love Story Began Is a ‘Frictionless’ Society a Trap? How Do I Stop Guests From Bringing Their Children to My Parties? SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Wednesday’s operation, which was part of a joint federal and local investigation known as Operation Broken Blade, involved Homeland Security Investigations, I.R.S. Criminal Investigation and the Los Angeles Police Department.

Prosecutors are using a federal racketeering statute that was originally aimed at fighting organized crime, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. In January, city and county officials announced renewed efforts to combat sex trafficking in the area, saying they would push for state lawmakers to pursue stricter penalties for both traffickers and buyers. “Let me affirm our clear commitment to everyone: The L.A.P.D. will protect the victims, will hold the traffickers accountable, and will restore dignity and safety along this corridor,” Jim McDonnell, the police chief, told reporters as he stood on Figueroa Street. If convicted, some of the defendants who were arrested on Wednesday face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison, and a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison.

Source: Nine Arrested in Federal Crackdown on L.A.’s Sex-Trafficking Corridor – The New York Times

And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:9

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Great Value and Trader Joe Fruit Recall

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U.S. says suspected drug trafficker rescued from plane crash off Florida linked to Bahamas politician

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Opposition leaders in the Bahamas are demanding an investigation into a suspected drug trafficker who survived a recent plane crash near Florida and was allegedly found with roughly $30,000, according to a U.S. federal agent. The money was inside a bag labeled with the name of an unidentified high-ranking politician from the archipelago.

The suspect, who was deported to the Bahamas more than a decade ago after being convicted on drug and money laundering charges, is accused of trafficking cocaine through the Bahamas to the U.S.

He also is accused of meeting the unnamed politician in October 2024 at the Bahamian Parliament in Nassau to talk about a deal involving some 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of cocaine, according to a court document filed May 14 in the Southern District of New York, a day after the plane crash. It stated that the politician “could provide security for the planned cocaine shipment” and was introduced to an unnamed suspect as a “future associate.”

The allegations are the latest blow to the Bahamas, whose police commissioner resigned in December 2024 after a sergeant and two officers were indicted in what the U.S. Justice Department at the time called “a massive cocaine conspiracy enabled by corrupt Bahamian government officials.”

“Since at least May 2021, drug traffickers have smuggled tons of cocaine through The Bahamas for importation into the U.S. with the help and support of corrupt Bahamian government officials,” the Justice Department said in 2024 when announcing charges against the chief superintendent of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Michael Pintard, leader of the opposition Free National Movement party, claimed Monday that he does not believe the Bahamas’ prime minister, who secured reelection the day of the plane crash, will hold anyone accountable.

“We issued warnings about the close relationship between members of this administration and characters of interest to police locally and internationally,” he told reporters.

Latrae Rahming, spokesman for the office of the prime minister, shared a statement with The Associated Press on Tuesday noting that the government is taking the matter “extremely seriously.” It stated that local law enforcement will launch its own inquiry and that the government will reach out to U.S. officials to seek the sharing of information and obtain any available evidence, adding that it has received no official information identifying any public official related to the case.

Source: U.S. says suspected drug trafficker rescued from plane crash off Florida linked to Bahamas politician – CBS Texas

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
Psalm 139:1-2

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10 arrested in Fort Worth undercover sting targeting online child predators, authorities say

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low angle shot of parked police car

Ten people have been arrested, with nine additional suspects still under investigation, following a Fort Worth Police Department‑led, multi‑agency sting targeting child predators. The three‑day undercover operation, held April 1-3, focused on adults who investigators say were attempting to solicit minors online, authorities said Wednesday. Investigators used multiple online platforms to identify suspects seeking sexual contact with children under 17.

Participating agencies included the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, Crowley Police Department, Carrollton Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Secret Service, and the FBI. Names of arrested suspects listed Among those arrested, according to a Fort Worth police social media post, are the following:

  • Jose Montalvan, 41
  • Stephen Milliken, 30
  • Humberto Aldana Caballer, 23
  • James Klump, 61
  • Jordan Kammerer, 26
  • Joel Stroud, 33
  • Santiago Luque-Calix, 28
  • Jose Morales-Puentes, 25
  • Michael Schweitzer, 48
  • William Johnson, 19

Source: 10 arrested in Fort Worth undercover sting targeting online child predators, authorities say – CBS Texas

Without counsel, plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established.
Proverbs 15:22

North Texas woman arrested in widening prostitution, racketeering investigation, authorities say

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A North Texas woman accused of taking part in a years‑long prostitution scheme and an effort to gather intelligence on local public officials has been arrested, authorities said. Ashley Ketcherside, 41, of Godley, was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with racketeering. No bond has been set. The District Attorney’s Office for Johnson & Somervell Counties said the investigation centers on ongoing criminal activity involving Ashley Ketcherside, her husband, Michael, 52, and former members of the Godley Police Department. Michael Ketcherside had previously been arrested on charges of continuous promotion and solicitation of prostitution. Ashley Ketcherside, 41   Johnson County Jail Alleged decade‑long operation According to authorities, the couple allegedly ran a prostitution and racketeering operation that investigators describe as a pattern spanning nearly 10 years. The activity allegedly included promoting and facilitating prostitution.

Source: North Texas woman arrested in widening prostitution, racketeering investigation, authorities say – CBS Texas

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:20

Human trafficking a rising problem in Cameroon

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Human trafficking in Cameroon has been impeded by social stigma, inadequate financial resources, as well as lack of clarity in the laws.

During a workshop on human trafficking organized by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Kumbo Diocese Christopher Bello said Cameroon is a source, transit and destination for human trafficking, noting this modern slavery has spiked as a result of the separatist conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

Source: Human trafficking a rising problem in Cameroon, Catholic Church says | Crux

But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
Mark 13:11

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Feds nab another Syrian national connected to SIA smuggling in New Mexico; Human Trafficking

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Federal agents arrested another Syrian national involved in border crimes, this time in New Mexico and west Texas.

The arrest stems from a 1.5-year-long investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations-El Paso. HSI El Paso is part of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection El Paso Sector, which includes two west Texas counties and all of New Mexico. 

Source: Feds nab another Syrian national connected to SIA smuggling in New Mexico

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
Romans 15:2

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PA Cops Bust Alleged Migrant Sex-Trafficking Rings After Street Shooting

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During an investigation into a shooting, officials in Pennsylvania took down two alleged sex trafficking rings forcing women into prostitution.

Source: PA Cops Bust Alleged Migrant Sex-Trafficking Rings After Street Shooting

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