TEXAS –Ten Dallas area massage parlors were raided by the North Texas Trafficking Task Force (NTTTF) who executed a Texas-issued search warrant. Law enforcement officials arrested twenty-one foreign-national women at the massage parlors that are suspected as operating as fronts for the illegal sex industry and harboring illegal aliens.
Teams from the Dallas Police Department (DPD) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed the search warrants. During the execution of the warrants, HSI agents administrative arrested 21 women who were alleged foreign nationals on immigration violations. Eighteen of the women were from Thailand and three were from South Korea. One woman was also criminally arrested for possession of methamphetamine.
After executing the warrants, ten teams of police officers and federal agents raided all ten of the massage parlors simultaneously.
Additional search warrants were then executed at the Irving, Texas residence of one of the business owners, against two safe deposit boxes, and three bank accounts. This led to the seizure of around $640,000 in cash. Computers, cell phones and other documents were also seized.
After determining the principle purpose of operation of these establishments was solely for the purpose of prostitution, numerous prostitution cases were filed. The DPD Vice Department concluded the businesses have no other legitimate reason for operating.
In a press release obtained by Breitbart Texas, David M. Marwell, special agent in charge of HSI Dallas said, “HSI, DPD and our other NTTTF partners conduct these operations against the illegal sex industry to locate and rescue victims of human trafficking, and bring to justice those responsible. However, the best way of attacking human trafficking is by increasing public awareness of this crime.”
Thus far the investigation has revealed a revolving door of owners and female employees in each of the ten locations. Tracking the ownership of these businesses is very difficult as they use a variety of business entities to hide the actual ownership. The employees, according to the statement, are frequently shuttled from one location to another, often crossing state lines.
Translators are on-site during these raids in order to properly interview the women. Those who faced administrative charges are then processed and given a notice to appear before a federal immigration judge at a later date.
The NTTTF is made up of seventeen DFW Metroplex law enforcement agencies in addition to the Homeland Security Investigations unit. Their goal is to identify human traffickers and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law while, at the same time, attempting to rescue these victims of human trafficking and sexual slavery.
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