Task force targeting human traffickers
By Zahira Torres / For the Sun-News
Posted: 01/22/2010 05:01:30 AM MST

AUSTIN -- El Paso and Houston are among the nation's areas most used by human traffickers and, as a result, more law enforcement efforts may be directed to both cities, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Thursday.

The U.S. State Department estimates that up to 17,500 people are trafficked into the country each year from Asia, Central and South America and Eastern Europe.

Abbott said about 20 percent of those cases come from Texas.

He said 80 percent of the victims are female and 50 percent are children.

Most of the victims in Texas come through El Paso and Houston, which according to the U.S. Department of Justice are among the "most intense trafficking jurisdictions in the country."

"Because of the volume of human trafficking in Houston and El Paso, it requires a more intensified effort with greater resources applied there than areas where there may be fewer reports of human trafficking," Abbott said.

He did not offer any details at a meeting of a task force to fight human trafficking.

He said law enforcement officials must collaborate to develop better ways to identify victims of human trafficking, more education must be provided for prosecutors who might not have all of the information they need to go after criminals, and a higher level of cooperation is necessary if Texas is going to reduce the number of victims affected by this crime.

Abbott shared his message Thursday with dozens of law enforcement officials, prosecutors and
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representatives of nonprofit organizations.

The agencies are part of a task force created by lawmakers during the past legislative session to combat human trafficking.

"It is a serious threat that demands a unified front," Abbott said.

He said the task force would bring federal, state and local officials together to offer training and to develop policies and procedures that will help prosecute such crimes.

He said authorities must be able to distinguish between human smuggling and human trafficking.

Human smuggling is when a person pays another person to get help entering the country.

Human trafficking could involve undocumented immigrants or U.S. citizens who are forced to work against their will, often as prostitutes, by another person.

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, told the task force she never understood why victims did not report such crimes until she heard one woman's account.

She said the woman told her that she was forced into prostitution but did not report it because her captors showed her a picture of her 13-year-old brother and a video of her 16-year-old sister.

She said the captors threatened to kill or rape them if she did not cooperate.

"I am exceedingly humbled to be a part of something with the potential to end this horrific crime," Van de Putte said.

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