More than 20 arrested in human-trafficking sweep
The extensive investigation involves members of a Somali gang. The arrests appear to be focused in Minneapolis, Richfield, Brooklyn Park, St. Paul and several southern suburbs.
Federal and local investigators swept through the Twin Cities area Monday and arrested more than 20 suspects in connection to an extensive human trafficking investigation involving members of a Somali gang, sources confirmed.
The arrests appear to be focused in Minneapolis, Richfield, Brooklyn Park, St. Paul and several southern suburbs in an operation led by the U.S. attorney's office in Nashville, Tenn. An indictment against 29 suspects was unsealed Monday morning, alleging that members of Somali gangs based in the Twin Cities victimized at least four women -- three of whom were younger than 15 at the time -- by turning them into prostitutes. The U.S. attorney was expected to issue a statement regarding the case later Monday morning.
The case came to light when a Somali girl who had run away from home was found by police in the Nashville area. She had been transported there to sell for sex with a number of men, according to the indictment. Other girls were sold for sex in the Twin Cities area, Nashville and Columbus, Ohio, investigators say.
According to the indictment unsealed Monday, however, the investigation goes far beyond human trafficking and includes burglary, credit card fraud, a stolen car, obstruction of justice and lying to a grand jury.
A leader in the local Somali community said he had heard around 7 a.m Monday that the FBI "went to the individuals' houses."
"We don't have the names [of the people arrested]," said Dahir Jibreel, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center. "We are very interested to know the names of these people."
Investigators from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigation, the FBI and several local police departments were part of the action.
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