18 immigrants ‘enslaved’ for labor and sex in Texas were just rescued, police say

Police rescued 18 people held hostage in Houston, Texas, after a family called to report suspects had demanded a ransom payment for a kidnapped relative, police said.

Houston police said in a news conference Friday they tracked down the family member and arrested suspects during a traffic stop, according to KTRK. Police officers then set up an undercover money exchange for the “purchase” of another victim, which helped lead them to a stash house with 16 more people, according to the news conference broadcast by the Houston TV station.

There were two female victims and 16 male victims, police said. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said the people were from Latin American countries and likely had been smuggled, according to KHOU.

Acevedo said the men were held with no clothing so they couldn’t escape, according to KHOU.

The women were held hostage and sexually assaulted for 25 days, according to Houston Public Media.

“Ultimately they’re basically enslaved in some cases for labor and in some cases for sex,” Acevedo said, according to KHOU.

Police also reported finding four guns, over $10,000 and 19 grams of cocaine during the investigation.

Jose Silvestre Chavarrieta-Gusman, 18; Fredy Moreno-Gil, 26; Gabriel Salazar-Bautista, 35; Jose Manuel Aviles-Diaz, 26; and Moris Gudiel Campos-Gomez, 39, were charged with engaging in organized criminal activity by kidnapping.

Campos-Gomez, Aviles-Diaz and Chavarrieta-Gusman also were charged with sexual assault, according to Houston Public Media.

This story was originally published June 28, 2019 at 3:47 PM with the headline "18 immigrants ‘enslaved’ for labor and sex in Texas were just rescued, police say."