Authorities identified 51 sex-trafficking victims, some as young as 14 years old.
By Catholics for Catholics
Federal agents dealt a blow to one of the most vicious and harrowing street gangs of Los Angeles, arresting 10 alleged members for sex trafficking minors and forcing them into a life of prostitution.
The agents concentrated on the Hoover Criminals Gang, which operates on LA’s Figueroa corridor, where the street thugs recruit young girls, often from foster homes, luring them with alleged luxuries and later violently forcing them into prostitution, according to authorities. The arrests were the outcome of Operation Broken Blade, a joint federal and local law enforcement initiative targeting gang-operated sex trafficking in Los Angeles.
According to a story by the Epoch Times, in a July 6 statement, the Department of Homeland Security said its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles office, working with federal and local partner agencies, applied more than 20 federal warrants during the week of July 1 and identified 51 victims, some as young as 14.
“The actions taken today by HSI are another decisive blow against those who have exploited the vulnerable people of our community, and they will now face the consequences of those actions,” Eddy Wang, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles, said in the statement.
Many of the suspects are hardened career criminals with prior convictions including robbery, kidnapping, and burglary. According to the Justice Department, six suspects are members of the Hoover Criminal Gang, which operates in South Los Angeles.
Dating back to the 1960’s, the Hoover Criminal Gang is a breakaway group from the Crips. Often the gang fights anyone for territorial and prostitution rights, including the Crips and the Bloods. Their brutal methods include intimidation, beatings and more, employing vicious street pimps in their muscle work, according to authorities.
All of the arrested alleged gang members face federal racketeering charges related to sex trafficking, money laundering, firearms offenses, and narcotics crimes.
Homeland Security said the suspects preyed on girls and young women who had run away from home, as well as children from foster care systems, and used social media to recruit victims for sex trafficking.
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