Image via WikipediaPOSTED: 7:13 pm EST January 27, 2011
UPDATED: 1:46 pm EST January 31, 2011
ATLANTA -- Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents told CBS Atlanta News sex slaves rings are operating in various parts of the metro area.
CBS Atlanta spoke to a woman who said she was kidnapped from her home in Veracruz, Mexico, and forced into prostitution. The woman, who calls herself Maria, only speaks Spanish. She told CBS Atlanta’s Mike Paluska she had to make “$500 a day to cover her costs for coming to America.”
Maria said her captors promised her a better life in America working as a nanny or a restaurant worker. But once she made it to Georgia, she was told to be a prostitute, she said.
Maria said she was forced to have sex with 40 to 50 men a day.
ICE Agents said 12 million people globally are the victims of sex trafficking.“Victims ranging in age from 14 on up; men, women, children from all across the globe, from Mexico, from Central and South America, Asia, India, Africa, eastern Europe,” said Brock Nicholson, special agent in charge for ICE.
“Atlanta is a large metropolitan area, a large customer base for the sex trafficking business. They are brought in, sometimes voluntarily thinking that they have a great job or a wonderful romance, and it's quickly dashed when they find themselves forced into prostitution.”
Maria said she was shuttled back and forth from apartment to apartment in Norcross, where men would be waiting in rooms, ten at a time, to have sex.
Her ordeal only lasted a month. One day while she was going to one of the apartments, she said she saw a police officer flagged him down and was able to tell police she had been smuggled into the U.S.
“At first, I was very scared,” she said. “But then they helped me. I would tell anyone in my position, 'do not be tricked by men with a lot of money and always ask for help anywhere you can.'”
Victims of human smuggling are free from deportation and will not face any penalties for coming into the country illegally.
CBS Atlanta spoke to a woman who said she was kidnapped from her home in Veracruz, Mexico, and forced into prostitution. The woman, who calls herself Maria, only speaks Spanish. She told CBS Atlanta’s Mike Paluska she had to make “$500 a day to cover her costs for coming to America.”
Maria said her captors promised her a better life in America working as a nanny or a restaurant worker. But once she made it to Georgia, she was told to be a prostitute, she said.
Maria said she was forced to have sex with 40 to 50 men a day.
ICE Agents said 12 million people globally are the victims of sex trafficking.“Victims ranging in age from 14 on up; men, women, children from all across the globe, from Mexico, from Central and South America, Asia, India, Africa, eastern Europe,” said Brock Nicholson, special agent in charge for ICE.
“Atlanta is a large metropolitan area, a large customer base for the sex trafficking business. They are brought in, sometimes voluntarily thinking that they have a great job or a wonderful romance, and it's quickly dashed when they find themselves forced into prostitution.”
Maria said she was shuttled back and forth from apartment to apartment in Norcross, where men would be waiting in rooms, ten at a time, to have sex.
Her ordeal only lasted a month. One day while she was going to one of the apartments, she said she saw a police officer flagged him down and was able to tell police she had been smuggled into the U.S.
“At first, I was very scared,” she said. “But then they helped me. I would tell anyone in my position, 'do not be tricked by men with a lot of money and always ask for help anywhere you can.'”
Victims of human smuggling are free from deportation and will not face any penalties for coming into the country illegally.
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Source: cbsatlanta.com
Customs Agents: Sex Trafficking Major Problem In Georgia - Atlanta News Story - WGCL Atlanta
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