Federal and local law enforcement agencies arrested nine people Wednesday, part of what officials described as a major “takedown” of a sex trafficking operation in the Figueroa corridor of South Los Angeles.
The operation, which unfolded early Wednesday morning, involved Homeland Security Investigations and the Los Angeles Police Department, according to First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, who said they were “targeting human trafficking in the Figueroa corridor, where girls as young as 14 are being sold for sex.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A. said an arrest was also made Monday tied to the case.
A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday said the accused were “members and associates of an organization known as the ‘Hoovers.’”
In August, authorities touted another operation on the Figueroa Corridor. Officials said the Hoovers gang largely controlled sex trafficking and prostitution along a 3.5-mile stretch of Figueroa Street between approximately Slauson Avenue and Century Boulevard.
Known as “The Blade,” the Figueroa corridor is by far the most notorious sex trade hub or “track” in the city. Police officials and advocates for trafficking victims say that the Hoovers gang has long held a stranglehold on the area. Federal charging documents said the Hoovers formed in the late 1970s with territory that largely encompassed the Figueroa corridor.
Among those charged in the newly unsealed indictment is Cameron Lockett, 23, a.k.a. “Jankie” and “Hesopayed,” of Anaheim. Lockett allegedly trafficked a then-18-year-old woman, beating her in the back and ribs and biting off a chunk of her cheek, according to the indictment. Afterward, authorities charged, he gave her a Percocet pill and sent her to the hospital to get stitches.
According to the indictment, the Hoovers had strongholds over specific hotels and motels in their territory, including the Stadium Inn & Spas. Authorities on Wednesday arrested Mukeshkumar Rambhai Ahir, 45, the manager of the Stadium Inn & Spas.
Authorities plan to release more details at a Wednesday morning press conference.