ICE agents escort Luisa Medrano, center, following her arrest as the ringleader of a group that smuggled young women into the United States and forced them to work in Medrano’s bars. |
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NEWARK, N.J.—Ten people, all alleged
members of a ring operating in the United States and Honduras
that smuggled young, undocumented Honduran women into the
U.S. and forced them to work off their smuggling debt in
bars in Hudson County, N.J., were indicted July 21.
The suspected ringleader, Luisa Medrano,
was arrested July 20. Seven others from the group have been
arrested, three by Honduran authorities. Two persons remain
at large.
Medrano, 50, of Cliffside Park, N.J., is
a U.S. citizen and native of El Salvador. She is the owner
of three bars in Union City and Guttenberg, N.J., where
the young women who were trafficked to Hudson County were
put to work.
The women, mostly from rural, poor villages
in Honduras—some as young as 14—were recruited
under the false promise of getting legitimate jobs as waitresses
in restaurants in New Jersey. Once brought to Hudson County
by way of a safe house in Houston, Texas, however, they
were put to work at several bars owned by the ringleader
and subject to physical and emotional abuse.
The 31-count indictment describes, among
other abuses, young victims being raped while being smuggled
to the United States; victims sometimes far younger than
21 forced to continually drink alcohol and dance with male
customers at the bars to raise money to pay human smuggling
fees of between $10,000 and $20,000; victims being beaten
if they were not compliant; victims forced to work in the
bars up to seven days a week; and threats of deportation
or harm to them and their families in Honduras if they did
not comply with the ring’s demands.
Young women who became pregnant were forced
to terminate their pregnancies so the ring could maintain
them as income-producers, according to the indictment. In
one case, a 21-year-old victim was allegedly forced to take
pills intended to induce a spontaneous abortion. The next
day, the victim gave birth to a live baby girl, who died
shortly afterward.
“This case illustrates ICE’s
commitment in identifying, investigating and prosecuting
individuals who participate in the trafficking of human
beings,” said Kyle Hutchins, Special Agent-in-Charge
of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Newark. “These
individuals are criminals, driven by greed, who act without
conscience in their brazen disregard of human rights and
freedoms.”
The indictment charges the 10 individuals
with violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act
of 2000, including counts of conspiracy to commit forced
labor, forced labor, alien smuggling and harboring illegal
aliens. Medrano also owned three multi-unit buildings in
Union City, where the victims were allegedly forced to live
while they worked to pay off their smuggling debts.
The ring employed recruiters in Honduras
to locate attractive, innocent young women—most in
their teens and early 20s. It used smugglers, commonly known
as “coyotes,” to get them into the United States
illegally, and “enforcers,” who advised the
Honduran women upon arrival in New Jersey of the true nature
of their work. The women were told that they were required
to repay a smuggling fee of up to $20,000 and the enforcers
used physical abuse and intimidation to control and use
them to make money for the conspirators.
The young women received $240 for approximately
48 hours of work per week, plus an amount related to the
sale of drinks to customers they met at the bars. But they
were required to pay virtually all their earnings to the
ring.
Honduran authorities have worked closely
with U.S. law enforcement to bring all the ring’s
participants to justice.
Source: U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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