SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Several people have been arrested as part of a federal crackdown on sex trafficking along the Figueroa Corridor in South Los Angeles.
Operation Broken Blade was carried out at multiple locations, including residences and the Stadium Inn and Spas, a motel near South Vermont Avenue and 104th Street.
That location is only about two blocks away from the notorious Figueroa Corridor, an area of South L.A. known for human trafficking and underage prostitution.
The on-site manager of the motel, Mukeshkumar Rambhai Ahir, 45, was among the nine people arrested Wednesday. He is facing a series of financial crimes connected to human trafficking. As agents combed through the motel, Federal Financial Crimes investigators told ABC7 that Ahir was not a trafficker but accused him of profiting off prostitution.
"The money told the story. As alleged, individuals associated with this location hid large amounts of illicit cash, manipulated records, and structured deposits to conceal proceeds from sex trafficking activities," said Jose Gonzalez, IRS Criminal Investigations.
In total, federal authorities have arrested 10 people as part of the operation.
Many of those arrested are members or associates of the well-known Hoover Gang, which authorities say "largely controlled sex trafficking and prostitution" along the corridor. A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday lists 51 victims, some as young as 14.
Those members are facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking through force, fraud, or coercion, drug trafficking conspiracy and concealment money laundering.
Federal prosecutors allege "the Hoovers worked together to recruit new victims via social media or in person, focusing on vulnerable minor girls and young women, particularly those with financial or emotional struggles or who had run away from home or in the foster care system. Victims were recruited via false promises of a luxurious lifestyle, intimidation, and actual or threatened violence. Pimps also supplied their victims with drugs such as oxycodone and amphetamines to create addictions that the pimps could exploit."
"They are targeting and preying on girls in the foster care system who are the most vulnerable. This is about using a human being to make money for yourself," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.
Investigators say some of the alleged violent pimps branded their victims.
"They will beat them. One of them bit a piece of meat out of her cheek in her face, down to the cartilage," Essayli said. "One of them was forced to have an abortion and then was forced to work that same night."
Officials said they want the crackdown to continue.
Last year alone, the Los Angeles Police Department rescued 54 under girls from the Figueroa Corridor. Law enforcement sources say as of this week, the LAPD has already found 70 underage girls working "The Blade."
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