FBI Indicts 22 On Sex And Human Trafficking Charges

HOUSTON, TX — The U.S. Attorney’s Office has indicted 22 gang members accused of human smuggling and forcing their victims to work off their “debt” in brothels in the Houston area.

Prosecutors who returned a 37 count indictment on Nov. 2, said the gang members, who are all affiliated with the Southwest Cholos, allegedly operated several brothels in apartments throughout Houston as well as in Mexico.

The primary location was the Carriage Way Apartment Complex on Dashwood in southwest Houston, federal prosecutors said in a press release.

Those arrested during the enforcement actions on Nov. 7 include Houston residents:

• Giovani Alecio aka Whiteboy, 26
• Victor Javiel Gonzalez, 29
• Maria Angelica Moreno-Reyna aka Patty, 51
• Gabriela Gonzalez-Flores aka Gabby, 46
• Eddie Torres aka Monterrey 38
• Jose Luis Moreno aka Lucky, 23
• Gilberto Espinoza Garcia, 49
• Hector Reyna aka Pantera, 26
• Jimmy Mejia Chavez, 33
• Grisel Salas aka Cris, 34, of Donna, TX
• Jose Ruben Palomo-Martinez, 48, of Mission, TX

Two other alleged gang members: Erik Ivan Alvarez-Chavez aka Casa, 39, and Denis Amaya Calballero aka Keiko, 25, both of Houston, were already in federal custody on related charges and will appear in federal court in the near future.

Nine others who were allegedly part of the scheme remain at large.

They are identified as:

• Bianca Stephanie Reyna aka Troubles, 20
• Claudia Soriano-Hernandez, 26
• Juan Carlos Contreras Cervantes, 25
• Raul Moreno Reyna aka Coney, 53
• William Alberto Lopez, 27
• Anadalit Duarte aka Paola, 25
• Walter Lopez, 26
• Israel Juarez Sifuentes, 43, of Donna, TX
• Melissa Dominguez aka Missy, 50, of Donna, TX

The gang allegedly smuggled Mexican nationals, El Salvadoran nationals, and other Latin Americans and Asians into the U.S. through the Mexican border, and promised they would be working in restaurants to pay off their smuggling debt into the U.S.

Instead, prosecutors said the undocumented immigrants were forced into prostitution, and forced to work in brothels the gang controlled.

Prosecutors alleged that the victim were tattooed with the name or nickname of the person who controlled them as a way of being identified as property.

So far, federal authorities have identified six victims of this human and sex trafficking scheme, with the youngest being just 14-years old.

Seven more of the gang’s victims were also found in the brothels, but have not yet been identified.

In conjunction with the the sex and human trafficking scheme, the gang also trafficked narcotics and illegal weapons through their main operations base in Houston, prosecutors said.

If convicted of sex trafficking, the defendants face a minimum of 15 years and up to life imprisonment. Those charged with the drug trafficking also face up to life with a minimum of 10 years as possible punishment. The human smuggling charges carry a maximum of 20 years imprisonment, while those convicted in the illegal trafficking of firearms face another five years imprisonment.

Anyone with information on the nine fugitives is asked to call the FBI at 713-693-5000.

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