A criminal complaint has charged 13 people with the crime of smuggling dozens of women into the United States and forcing them into prostitution. Some of the defendants were to appear wednesday in federal court in Manhattan to face multiple counts including sex trafficking and interstate transportation for prostitution.
The ring “lured their unsuspecting victims to the United States and then consigned them to a living hell,” US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
The investigation was among several aimed at “blockading the repugnant sex trafficking corridor” used to exploit victims from Tenancingo Mexico, said James Hayes, head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York.
