EXPLAINER: 16 things you need to know about human trafficking in Houston

Houston has long been known as a major hub for human and sex trafficking. This is what you need to know about the criminal industry.

1. Houston a major player: The Houston region is a major sex and human trafficking hub given its size, proximity to the border and large immigrant population, according to officials.

Hortencia Medeles enters the federal courthouse In Houston at sunrise Monday, April 13, 2015 for the first day of her trial on charges she led a sex-trafficking ring. She faces up to live in convicted. (Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle)

less

2.Fast growing: Sex trafficking is the fastest-growing aspect of organized crime, according to a 2014 DPS report, and U.S. gangs as well as Mexican drug cartels are now taking control of much of the action.

Fugitive Alfonso Diaz-Juarez, who is charged in Houston for his alleged role in a sex-trafficking ring is believed to have fled to Mexico.
( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle )

less

4. Shocking depth: “The depth and breadth of the different subtypes of human trafficking are shocking,” said Bradley Myles, head of the Washington D.C.-based Polaris Project, which runs a trafficking hotline. “In Houston, for example, we’ve seen reported cases of trafficking in brothels, door to door sales crews, domestic work and in street-based commercial sex.”

This was the message emblazoned on billboard across the state as part of an anti- human trafficking and sex trafficking campaign kicked off in Houston last year.

less

5. Slaves: “It is absolutely modern day slavery,” said Shauna Dunlap, spokeswoman for the FBI’s Houston Division. “These people are being forced into labor or prostitution against their will. “They end up in bars, nail salons, restaurants, massage parlors, private homes and countless other places.”

This was a billboard used in a state-wide anti human trafficking and sex trafficking campaign.

less

6. Victims hide in plain sight: Brian Moskowitz, head of Homeland Security Investigation’s Houston Division, said that one of the greatest challenges of trafficking is that victims blend in with the rest of the city. “This is hidden in plain sight,” he said. “We can only see what we can see.”

A safe of cash found last year by authorities during a raid of Harris County cantinas thought to be linked to human, sex trafficking. (Harris County Sheriff’s Office)

less

7.Minors forced into selling sex: The average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 12 to 14, according to one study, notes the Texas Department of Public Safety.Stilettos, a cell phone and other belongings sit on the table of a Houston cantina raided by authorities for suspected ties to human trafficking, sex trafficking and related-prostitution. less

8. Victims snared with social media: Human and sex traffickers are increasingly active on social media, which they use to target victims and advertise to customers, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

This unidentified woman was working in a cantina raided last year by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigating sex traffic, prostitution and related crimes.

less

10. Gang ties: Members and associates of multiple gangs have been reported to be involved in sex trafficking operations in Texas, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. “These include Barrio Azteca, Black Gangster Disciples, Bloods, Crips, Mara Salvatrucha, Sureños, and Tango Blast. Gangs and gang members are attracted to the lucrative nature of this activity due to the potential for large and renewable profits and the perceived lower risk of detection,” notes a DPS report.

The former location of Las Palmas II in the 5600 block of Telephone Rd in Houston. This is one of the bars authorities contend was home to a sex trafficking ring allegedly led by Hortencia Medeles Arguello. Her trial started Monday in Houston at the federal courthouse.. (Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle)

less

11. Cartel ties: Mexican cartels facilitate, control, or benefit from nearly all human smuggling activity along the Texas-Mexico border, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The former location of Las Palmas II in the 5600 block of Telephone Rd., in Houston. This is one of the bars authorities contend was home to a sex trafficking ring led by Hortencia Medeles Arguello. Her trial started Monday in Houston. (Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle)

less

13. Some victims start out willingly: “In some cases, the victims of sex trafficking initially voluntarily and willingly travel with and engage in prostitution for a trafficker, but are eventually forced to continue working against their will, held captive, and have their access to food, friends, and family restricted by the trafficker,” according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

A photo of fugitive Alfonso Diaz-Juarez, aka “Poncho”is displayed as then Houston FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen L. Morris, right, speaks during media conference at FBI Houston Headquarters in 2013.
The news conference was held to announce multiple federal arrests, and to seek public assistance in the ongoing investigation of an international sex-trafficking ring allegedly run by Hortencia Medeles, who faces a coming trial. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle )

less

14.Victims kept under control for years: Traffickers keep their victims under their control by making victims dependent on them for food, shelter, supplying drug habits, and restricting their access to communication with friends and family.

A worker completes the demolition of La Costeñita bar which was a location for a human trafficking ring shown on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, in Houston. The bar was allegedly home to a sex-trafficking ring led by Hortencia Medeles, who faces a coming trial. ( Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle )

less

15. Tied to children: Approximately 100,000 children are estimated to be in the sex trade in the United
States each year, according to the Polaris Project, a US nongovernmental organization
that studies human trafficking.13 In 2013, Texas ranked second in the nation with 2,236
incoming tips (calls, emails, tip forms) received by the Polaris Project’s National Human
Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) for human trafficking tips.

Cheryl Briggs, 53, a former trafficking victim and founder of My Daughter’s Home, a facility in the greater Houston area dedicated to helping women who have been trafficked for sex, shows the six-bed facility F( Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle )

less

16. Escape is tough: Many traffickers physically and sexually assault their victims and threaten to assault or kill their family members if the victims attempt to escape. In some cases, they deliberately drug them, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Investigator Charles Cornelius points to an escape hatch in the fence surrounding Houston’s La Costellita cantina, which was linked to sex trafficking, (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.)

less