Eight people have been charged with smuggling 100 girls from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras into Houston and forcing them into prostitution.
The girls were lured to Texas with the promise of $500 per month waitress jobs. However, once they arrived, the girls were allegedly raped, beaten and forced into prostitution with threats of harm to their families to repay the $8,000 to $13,000 smuggling fees, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Six men and two women -- all from El Salvador or of Salvadoran descent -- were arrested Sunday. The 100 women also were held on immigration charges.
Walter Corea, 39, the owner of Houston's El Cuco Restaurant, is accused of heading the sex-trafficking ring.
Federal Judge Calvin Botley scheduled a Thursday arraignment and detention hearing since federal prosecutors opposed releasing the eight on bail.
It was Houston's second prostitution ring arrest in the past two months. Four Mexican nationals have been indicted in the earlier arrests.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
