FBI Raids Sex Traffickers That Victimized Latinas in Tennessee

FBI authorities in Tennessee recently rescued a woman who had been held captive in a house in Goodlettsville and sold for sex. The tennessean.com reports:

The victim was among a group of undocumented Hispanic women forced to work in brothels and serve as many as 30 men a day in Tennessee and across Southern states and cities, according to a federal indictment this month.

The repot says that Tennessee is part of a larger multi-state sex trade ring and is connected to an international gang operating out of Minnesota.

The traffickers are using large sporting events, races and concerts to sell prostitutes, a sex tourism approach, (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin) Helm said. It was something Atlanta had to deal with; now it’s in Tennessee.

The state’s highway system makes it attractive to traffickers to set up shop here, she said.

Authorities arrested on man in connection with the ring but they say he is a part of a larger group that ran brothels in Tennessee and Kentucky.

“We were finding that it (Hispanics) was one of the hardest-hit communities when it came to trafficking,” (Free for Life International founder Colette Bercushe) said. “I don’t know if it’s awareness or we are just seeing more cases.

“It’s just pretty unbelievable that this is going on.”

Follow Victor Landa on Twitter: @vlanda

[Photo courtesy HHS.gov]