During August and September, Operation Heatwave, an operation to persecute persons suspected of human trafficking, has conducted in Sugar Land. At the end of the operation 26 people were arrested and charged with 31 offenses including compelling, promoting and soliciting prostitutions, trafficking of a person, weapon and illegal possession and sale of drugs, and 17 other people were rescued, accorging to The Houston Chronicle.
Operation Heatwave was designed to target buyers and consumers of prostitution in the Sugar Land area. During this operation 26 men were arrested and 15 adult women, one adult man and one underage girl were rescued. “Human trafficking does not discriminate,” said Mark Hanna, chief of the DA office’s special crimes division during a press conference. “It can be any sex, any age, all over the demographics.”
The district attorney opinted out that Operation Heatwave is just the beginning of a broader strategy to stop human trafficking in the county. But he confessed that human trafficking is a crime that occurs in plain sight and within a chian of complicities. Because of that, the attorney shared that it is very important that if you see something suspicious, you need to contact the authorities. The red flags include: shared a list of tell-tale signs: Excessive traffic at a particular residence, massage parlors that have their windows covered or blacked out, sometimes with a neon sign at the entrance. The doors are locked, and you have to be buzzed in and women and children who seem uncomfortable with the people they’re with.