Arrest warrants have been issued for multiple individuals connected to a forced labor operation in Collin County.
The Princeton Police Department issued a press release on Monday detailing its dismantling of a human labor trafficking ring operating out of Princeton, Melissa, and McKinney.
Authorities were first alerted to a suspicious situation at the residence of 31-year-old Dwaraka Gunda and 31-year-old Santhosh Katkoori, a married couple. Officers conducted a welfare check at their home in the 1000 block of Ginsburg Lane in Princeton around 3 p.m. back on March 13.
After executing a search warrant, they found 15 adult women who claimed they were being forced to work for multiple programming shell companies owned by the couple.
Using the laptops, cell phones, printers, and purportedly fraudulent documents seized at the scene, detectives with the Princeton Police Department then uncovered a larger operation involving more suspects and both male and female victims.
So far, four individuals face second-degree felony charges for human trafficking: Gunda, Katkoori, 24-year-old Chandan Dasireddy, and 37-year-old Anil Male. According to Princeton police, the investigation is ongoing, and more charges and arrests may be forthcoming.
According to Collin County court records, Dasireddy bonded out of jail in June after surrendering his passport.
Similarly, Gunda appears to have bonded out in March; however, a motion was filed recently to amend her bond conditions. Two motions were filed to lower her husband Katkoori’s bond since he came before the magistrate in March. He appears to have bonded out as well.
A warrant was issued for Male in April and appears to be active. He does not appear in Collin County jail or court records in relation to this case.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, it is a misconception that trafficking victims have illegally entered the country. Instead, the majority of victims of forced labor were issued H-2A and H-2B visas. Yet, their unstable immigration status helps make them vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers through various practices, such as debt bondage.
Texas ranks among the top states in the nation for human trafficking activity. In Dallas, sex trafficking reels in an estimated $99 million.
As of July 8, the Dallas Police Department had logged 51 human trafficking cases, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard. All were for the purposes of sexual exploitation. The victims were all female and ranged between the ages of 14 and 43. The majority were black (32) or Hispanic (16).
As previously covered by The Dallas Express, DPD’s chronic staffing issues have hindered its ability to tackle human trafficking in the city. Roughly 3,000 officers are currently fielded, whereas a City report previously called for a force of 4,000 to adequately meet the public safety needs of a jurisdiction the size of Dallas.
Similarly, City leaders have not kept up with other high-crime cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City in terms of spending on public safety. DPD was budgeted only for $654 million for this fiscal year.