"What's going on is a lot of people are kidnapping people in other countries - Europe, China, Mexico - to sell them as workers, house slaves or sex slaves," said Maressa Fernandez, an agent with Millenia Real Estate Services in Claremont. "The children are always sold as prostitutes."
The bank-owned homes that are vacant should be eyed especially. Fernandez said some traffickers are putting their human inventory in these as squatters, and some are buying them really cheap and using them to run their trafficking business.
She said to watch for signs people are being stored in an empty building.
In a recent Southern California incident, a Realtor noticed a blanket on a garage floor, and a bucket of urine. Police came and discovered a little Egyptian girl who had been abducted, and was for sale.
"They're selling them here," Fernandez said of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. "There are people for sale in the Inland Empire."
In fact there was a houseful discovered in San Bernardino, and a separate arrest in June for trafficking a young girl in Montclair and Pomona.
Fernandez said the other thing to look for is a foreign teen working during school hours.
"They're dishwashers, gardeners, housekeepers or helpers at a nail salon," but they don't keep any pay. "People own them. They take the paycheck."
She said they don't leave because they're afraid. They're mentally abused, and they rarely speak English. The trafficker may threaten to harm the slave's children. There are small folded papers Fernandez carries that offer information on how to get help. They come in various languages. "I always bring them with me," she said. "If I see someone that might be held hostage, I'll pretend like I'm talking about the yard and slip one to them." These are printed by a Pasadena-based organization called Oasis, a group working against human trafficking. It has a number to call. Oasis provides "Freedom Bags" with new clothing, toiletries, phone cards and gift cards as part of its rescue efforts.
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