Normally bedbugs are looked upon as pests, but these bugs were the saving grace for human trafficking victims in North Texas.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, police officers rescued more than a dozen women from a home in Princeton, which authorities believe was the center of a human labor trafficking ring. Several arrest warrants were issued in connection with the alleged trafficking crimes.
Princeton police officers obtained a search warrant for a home after receiving a call about a welfare concern, according to a news release from the PPD.
A local pest company was called to the house to treat the premises for bedbugs, per CBS News Texas. The technician who treated the house told police that upon arrival he was met with young men who showed him around the house.
The technician told police that three to five women were sleeping on the floor in each bedroom. He noted that there was “a large amount of suitcases” in the home, with no furniture other than folding tables and air mattresses.
Thanks to this tip, the police visited the home in the 1000 block of Ginsburg Lane in Princeton.
During the police search, 15 women claimed they were being forced to work for multiple programming shell companies by the homeowners.
Four suspects, Santhosh Katkoori, Dwaraka Gunda, Chandan Dasireddy, and Anil Male, were arrested on charges of human trafficking in connection to the investigation.
A police spokesperson, Lt. Jesus Rodriguez, told CBS that this is the first time the department has worked on a case like this. The department is receiving assistance from the Department of Homeland Security to analyze the laptops, phones, and fake documents taken from the home.
Police believe this operation is much larger, with potentially more than 100 victims hidden away at other homes in the area, according to Rodriguez, as CBS reported.
All four suspects have been released on bond, per CBS.
In the nearby city of Dallas, 51 cases of human trafficking have been reported so far this year, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard. A chronic shortage of police officers has hindered the department’s efforts to fight human trafficking and other crimes in the city. Dallas only has about 3,000 officers, even though a city analysis recommended that 4,000 are needed to adequately patrol the city.
In addition, the DPD is operating on a slim budget of $654 million during this fiscal year, significantly less than other high-crime cities like Chicago and New York City spend on public safety.
