Five people have been taken into custody after police said broke up a prostitution ring in the Twin Cities. Officials confirmed raids conducted in Bloomington and Minneapolis last week, were connected to a yearlong prostitution investigation.
In Bloomington, a home in a quiet neighborhood across the street from Thomas Jefferson High School was one of the locations of the raid. State and federal authorities said the home served as a brothel, where men bought sex and the women were kept under watch.
Police said the ringleaders sold sex with women they picked up at the airport.
During 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS’ investigation, we found a man on the front steps of the home Monday. When asked what he was doing outside the alleged brothel, he said he was looking for women.
"Chicas, maybe, I don't know," he told us.
The man said he had heard about the low cost for sexual favors. He showed 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS his wallet, which contained $100 bills he received after cashing his paycheck. He said word had spread that it only cost $40 to have sex with women at the home.
"Forty dollars maybe. I'm sorry. Only this one day," he said.
During that time, another man pulled his car up to the home and then drove away. Neighbors said it’s been a common sight.
"They always had five or six cars there. And I was always wondering how they could have so many cars," said Norris Haslip, who lives next door.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents conducted a simultaneous raid in Bloomington and Minneapolis and arrested Carlos Guadalupe-Laganes Jimenez, Eduardo Delariva-Larios, and Julio Cesar Silverio-Cuevas.
Officials said Silvero-Cuevas was a major player in the human trafficking investigation. He is one of 25 men that were indicted in May for arranging prostitution.
At that time, demonstrators protested after ICE agents raided eight homes. ICE confirmed that two of the people arrested during last week's raids were illegal immigrants and may now be deported.
Human trafficking across the street from a suburban high school. Will we see the protesters marching and demanding justice for the enslaved chicas? Sadly, they'll probably be out marching screaming "justice" for the arrested illegal traffickers - like they did last May.
