Federal agents join LAPD to launch crackdown on human trafficking along Figueroa Corridor

The FBI and Homeland Security launched a joint initiative with the Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday to crack down on human traffickers.

Law enforcement detached from the Figueroa Corridor Human Trafficking Initiative targets a 3.5-mile stretch of Figueroa Street between Gage Avenue and Imperial Highway, an area notorious for prostitution. Investigators plan to focus on prosecuting human traffickers, especially those sexually exploiting minors in the South LA neighborhood. 

"Often, people think of human trafficking as something that happens only in other countries, but it happens in our own City," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.

In conjunction with the crackdown in the Figueroa Corridor, the Department of Justice vowed to prosecute alleged traffickers in federal court, especially in cases that involve children. During a press conference on Wednesday, U.S. Attorneys announced three cases involving the sex trafficking minors along the corridor. 

"The Figueroa Corridor area is ground zero for human trafficking and victims are abused and exploited there every day," United States Attorney Martin Estrada said. "It is imperative that we take an all-hands approach to stop the human trafficking happening right in our backyard."      

One of the cases involves a pair of Anaheim men — Nanci Jasmin Castillo, 31, and Jonathan Gonzalez-Reyes, 38 — who allegedly produced child pornography after befriending a 13-year-old girl. Federal prosecutors claim the men sexually assaulted her while she was in and out of consciousness. The pair also contemplated having her work along the corridor, according to court documents.

The other two cases outline two sex trafficking operations where two men allegedly acted as abusive pimps for teenage girls along Figueroa. 

"Our women, youth, and communities deserve better, and this is just the beginning of our focused multi-agency effort to stop human trafficking along the Figueroa Corridor," LAPD Chief Dominic Choi said.   

Anyone with information about child sex crimes cases is encouraged to call the FBI's LA field office at (310) 477-6565 or send tips to https://tips.fbi.gov.