Police in the city of Glendale, in Los Angeles, arrested Cuban Emmanuel Garcia Guzman, accused of trafficking immigrants from the island and then prostituting them.
According to the report, Guzman was arrested on Friday during an undercover operation in the Californian city, which is part of the United States’ actions against human trafficking involving Cuban citizens in areas such as Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami, the channel reported. 13News.
Court documents indicate the suspect is in the country illegally but has a residence in Texas.
According to court documents, an undercover detective arranged a sex-for-money transaction with one of the women being trafficked; and Guzman drove her to a hotel near Interstate 10 and Avondale Boulevard on Friday night.
The woman entered the hotel while Guzman remained in the car, at which time he was detained.
The authorities informed the woman who was not being arrested and they offered her resources, but she rejected them.
The victim then stated that he was in the United States illegally and was turning to the prostitution to support her family in Cuba.
“She said she was forced into this job out of financial necessity. She has three children in Cuba and her mother, to whom she constantly sends money to help them live,” said Moroni Mendez, spokesman for the Glendale Police Department.
Guzman initially claimed he was making DoorDash deliveries to the hotel, but later admitted to taking the young woman to the location.
Glendale police have identified apartments, hotels and houses in the West Valley where Cuban women forced into prostitution are staying, and they believe Guzman transported them from their residences to meeting places for sexual exchanges.
The detainee was jailed on the charge of transportation with prostitution purposesa Class 5 felony.
“We do not know how involved he is or at what level he is in this organization. Nor do we know the size of it,” Mendez clarified, and indicated that the investigation is ongoing.
She added that the main objective of the police is to help victims and recalled that there is a Family Support Center in Glendale, which assists victims of human trafficking.
