U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the arrest of several individuals described as criminal illegal aliens, including Rafael Alberto Cadena-Sosa, who was involved in a sex trafficking operation in Miami, Florida. ICE Los Angeles apprehended Cadena-Sosa in San Pedro, California.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Cadena-Sosa and his family members targeted women and girls as young as 14 in Veracruz, Mexico. They lured them to the United States with false promises of employment. Once in the country, the victims were subjected to smuggling debts and forced into prostitution through violence, sexual assault, and threats against them and their families. Cadena-Sosa accepted a plea deal and was convicted of involuntary servitude in 2015.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated: “The crimes against humanity and atrocities he committed against young girls are unspeakable. Yesterday’s arrests also include human smugglers, drug dealers and cocaine smugglers. Despite facing an 8,000% increase in threats against their lives, ICE is NOT backing down.”
Other arrests reported by ICE include Lucia Sanchez-Barrientos from Mexico for smuggling persons in Hondo, Texas; Jose Luisa Vazquez-Olvera from Mexico for manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance in Freestone County, Texas; Miguel Reynoso-Alfonso from Cuba for cocaine smuggling in Jesup, Georgia; and Carlos Garcia-Martinez from Mexico for larceny after breaking and entering in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
