ICE rescues 27 people from human trafficking
Caroline MolloyImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents recently rescued 27 victims, including 10 children, from a human trafficking ring in Omaha.
According to a Department of Homeland Security news release, the dismantling of the ring, which was being run out of motels and eyebrow salons, occurred Aug. 12. DHS said the victims “were crammed into cockroach infested rooms and trapped in squalor with no basic sanitation or safety.”
Both children and adults were being sex-trafficked, while the motel where the victims were kept was also used for drug-trafficking operations. In addition to rescuing the victims, ICE agents seized over $545,000 in cash and illicit drugs.
The release stated that the five undocumented people who ran the trafficking ring are from India. ICE agents also took into custody 14 others from various countries who were living alongside the trafficking victims. Three have criminal backgrounds, according to DHS.
The traffickers have been charged with several federal violations, including engaging in labor trafficking, sex trafficking, and harboring illegal aliens. All 19 will remain in custody as they await judicial proceedings and removal, DHS added.
Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated in the release that President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “will not allow children and women to be victims of these heinous human trafficking rings.”
