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POSTED: Sunday, November 22, 2009
UPDATED: 8:58 am CST November 23, 2009
SAN ANTONIO -- The impact of local human trafficking shocked San Antonio a few weeks ago when we first introduced the problem of teenager girls, being snatched, drugged and forced into performing sexual acts.
Authorities say it's no longer just a problem overseas, but a problem that's now in our own back yard.
In order to help fight the problem, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office created a Human Trafficking Unit a couple of years ago.
Since then, many local agencies have gotten involved such as Catholic Charities to not only help get young victims of prostitution off the streets but get medical help and education.
Detectives Ochoa and Garza, the county's HT Unit, allowed us to ride along with one evening. We discovered the unit will sometimes work regular shifts during the day, then put in extra hours beginning around midnight into the early morning hours, patrolling the city, looking for young victims of human trafficking.
"We're finding more and more of our own citizens being forced into prostitution, " Ochoa said while driving the streets of San Antonio.
Their goal is to be on the look out for underage prostitutes.
Detective Garza has been part of the unit for several years.
"We don't do this to arrest the girls, we do this because we care about them, because they've been mistreated, sometimes even treated like dogs by their pimps, that they don't realize that people care about them and that's our message to them, we want to help get them off the streets," said Garza.
Members of the unit said they have taken a number of minors off the streets but their work is far from over.
"When you see an 11-year-old girl out on the street who knows how much to charge, the positions types of sex, its just heart wrenching," said Ochoa.
On this particular night, the streets were quiet, perhaps it was because the night air had quickly turned cold but even on cold nights, the detective say prostitutes will work the streets.
"What's going on?", asked Detective Ochoa as he and Garza approached a couple of street people sleeping under a Westside bridge.
It was past midnight and the deputies were familiar with this couple, he a known drug addict and the woman, known for prostitution in the past.
Although they both admitted to leading a clean life, they were asked if they had seen any minors working the streets.
Older prostitutes tend to want to help authorities remove teenagers and younger girls and boys from the streets and avoid a life of crime.
But this time the couple had no new information.
Later, the detectives spotted a woman who appeared to be talking to a john in a pickup truck.
The driver drove off quickly and the Human Trafficking Unit began questioning the woman.
Although she denied working the street, she admitted seeing other woman in the area but had no information on minors working as a prostitute. The detectives warned her of the dangers of working the streets and told her to go home to her little girl.
A never-ending job for the County's Human Trafficking Unit.
http://www.ksat.com/news/21694184/detail.html
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