Feds arrest nine in LA adult, child sex trafficking bust

A total of nine individuals, including a motel manager, were arrested during Homeland Security’s latest sex trafficking sweep in southern Los Angeles, the Department of Justice reported on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors identified at least six individuals as members of the Hoover criminal gang, and charged them with sex trafficking of both children and adults.

The Wednesday sweep marked the second joint law enforcement operation against the Figueroa Corridor, an area of the city notorious for street prostitution. Officials arrested a total of 10 individuals during the crackdown and added seven of those arrested to a preexisting indictment against the gang’s sex and prostitution crimes within the area from 2021 to 2026. The DOJ characterized the Hoovers as controlling sex trafficking and prostitution in the corridor for the last five years, with members and gang associates acting as pimps.

Sex trafficking of young women and children is the lowest of the low, according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. The prosecutor said in a statement that he hoped the latest sweep would break the crime and abuse cycle within LA’s most notorious human trafficking corridor

Six of the seven defendants added to the 65-count indictment are Hoover gang members ranging in age from 23 to 30, the DOJ reported. The superseding indictment unsealed late last month charged gang members with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking through force, fraud, drug trafficking, and money laundering. Federal officials identified the seventh person charged after being arrested as Mukeshkumar Rambhai Ahir, the manager of Stadium Inn & Spas motel, who allegedly received nearly $65,000 from the gang’s trafficking.

What is known about the child victims? The DOJ shared details of at least three underage victims between the ages of 14 and 17, with one being ordered to receive an abortion. Prosecutors also accused the pimps of forms of violence against the underage victims, including physical abuse.

The indictment described the Hoovers using social media and in-person interactions to recruit victims, with a specific focus on young women and minors with financial or emotional struggles. The gang lured runaways or foster kids with either empty promises of a luxurious lifestyle or intimidation and threats, prosecutors alleged. Gangs also used drugs like oxycodone and amphetamines to ply victims and create addictions that Hoovers could exploit as a means of control, the DOJ added.

The defendants facilitated each other’s pimping by managing and disciplining victims, pooling resources to rent motel rooms and transporting each other’s victims to and from areas to solicit commercial sex work. The gang punished victims with various forms of violence, including branding the victim, humiliating them, or withholding food and drugs.