VIDEO: 5 People Arrested by Providence Police Following 5-Month Sex Trafficking Probe
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Providence Police on Thursday announced the arrest of five people suspected of sex trafficking following a five-month investigation.
“They were trafficking women who would come from outside of the country. They would house them at different locations—Cumerford being one of them—and from that location, it would become a house of prostitution,” said Major David Lapatin during a press conference on the arrests.
Mairenya Valdez, 37, and Milton Estrada, 35, both of Providence, were charged with human trafficking for sexual servitude, recruiting and transporting for the purposes of human trafficking, transporting and facilitating for the purpose of prostitution, and conspiracy.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTCarlos Lopez, 56, Rodolfo Galvez, 66, both of Providence, and Hector Montilla Segura, 36, of New Bedford, were charged with transporting and facilitating females for the purposes of prostitution and conspiracy.
See the Press Conference in the Video Above
The Investigation
According to Providence Police, at least four women from the Dominican Republic and Mexico were “unconfined prisoners” in homes in Providence and New Bedford.
According to Lapatin, the investigation started at 53 Cumerford Street in Providence.
According to Providence Police, once officers entered the house, they found the women, as well as, men who were there for sexual activity.
“The four women we had did not speak English so they were very vulnerable to being coerced into that line of work. They originally had thought they were going there for massages and just to work and when they got to the location, they realized that they were going to be asked to perform sexual acts,” said Captain Kevin Lanni during the press conference.
Lapatin added that there are likely more than four victims in the case.
However, police are not pursuing any other suspects at this point.
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