City, state, feds on trail of Somali sex slave ring

[Liqaye]

Authorities hope a girl's cell phone holds clues to what they think is a "large scale" prostitution ring.

 

 

StarTribune.com

By CHAO XIONG and ALLIE SHAH, Star Tribune

Thursday, September 23, 2010

 

 

A multi-agency investigation that reaches as far as Tennessee is focusing on a "large scale" Somali gang-run prostitution ring in Minnesota, according to court documents.

 

Details of the case came to a head when a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator applied in Ramsey County for a search warrant to get the cell phone records of a 15-year-old girl, who could hold the key to the case.

 

The girl, known by the nickname Ayan Cherry, has a long history as a runaway, and was being promoted as a prostitute by "a group of Somalian males," according to the affidavit in Ramsey County.

 

The girl was questioned in July 2009 by St. Paul police officer Heather Weyker in connection with a robbery in Richfield. She lied about her identity and involvement in prostitution, but Weyker "interviewed other witnesses of this Human Trafficking ring" and learned that the girl was "controlled by the Somalian gangs," the affidavit said.

 

Authorities seized her phone to search for text messages, calls, contacts, pictures, videos and other information.

 

According to the search warrant affidavit filed by special agent Ann Quinn, the phone is key because the victim, identified as A.A.A., "does not have a permanent home and often stays with various members of this prostitution gang, her cellular telephone is the main way of communication that the victim has with other members of this organization to include prostitution customers.

 

"Your affiant believes that the recovery of the data to include photos in this telephone will assist in the investigation of this Somalian Human Trafficking Ring and may reveal the identity of suspects, witnesses and additional victims."

 

According to the affidavit, Quinn spoke to members of the St. Paul Police Department, witnesses and A.A.A. "in connection with a large scale Somalian gang Human Trafficking ring based in Minnesota."

 

The affidavit was filed Friday, and obtained by the Star Tribune.

 

The girl referenced in the affidavit testified in federal court in Nashville on July 28 in connection with the trafficking investigation, the document shows. The BCA, St. Paul police and FBI cooperated in finding and escorting the girl to Tennessee.

 

The girl's previous criminal record includes implications in assaults in Rochester and a tampering with an auto citation in Olmsted County. She had outstanding warrants in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, and is now in custody in Hennepin County.

 

The BCA could not be reached for comment, and St. Paul police deferred comment to the U.S. attorney's office in Tennessee.

 

"We can't confirm or deny that there's an investigation," said Van Vincent, assistant U.S. attorney in Tennessee.

 

Related court documents had been filed openly in Hennepin County, and the affidavit in Ramsey County was briefly public until a television report Tuesday night led to it being sealed.

 

The news surprised the Somali community in Minnesota.

 

"I've seen some of the elders and they are shocked," said Dahir Jibreel, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center.

 

The ongoing FBI investigation into the young Somali-American men, who left Minneapolis to fight in Somali with the terrorist group Al-Shabab, is one of many difficult issues facing the community.

 

Teen gangs and teen prostitution are known problems in the community, Jibreel said, but the human trafficking is a new phenomenon. Jibreel said he did not know who A.A.A. is, but said girls who have recently arrived in the country are especially vulnerable.

 

The connection between Minnesota and Tennessee alleged in court documents surprised Jibreel, who said he is trying to contact Somali leaders there for more information.

 

Staff writer Vince Tuss contributed to this report. cxiong@startribune.com • 612-270-4708 allie.shah@startribune.com • 612-673-4488

[Liqaye]

The human traffickers are believed to be based in Minnesota

 

t. Paul, state and federal authorities reportedly are investigating a Somali gang involved in a Minnesota-based human trafficking ring.

 

The investigation includes a 15-year-old Twin Cities girl suspected of being forced into prostitution by the gang, according to a search warrant issued in the probe.

 

The investigation involves St. Paul police, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement task force.

 

A local ICE spokesman said Wednesday that the investigation was ongoing, and all three agencies referred inquiries to the U.S. attorney's office in Nashville, Tenn., where Assistant U.S. Attorney Van Vincent said he couldn't confirm or deny the investigation.

 

Heather Caillier of the St. Paul-based nonprofit Breaking Free said she has heard for a couple of years about women and girls in the Twin Cities Somali community being forced into prostitution.

 

She said the main concern of her organization is helping victims, but they've had difficulty reaching them because of cultural barriers.

 

Based on information from the search warrant, Caillier said, the case "could have pretty serious implications, and it sounds like it's more of an organized-crime type of ring."

 

"This opens up and sheds light on an issue we know is going on and nobody's really talking about," she said. "It's not just in the Somali community. It's all over the place."

 

The warrant in the case was filed in Ramsey County District Court on Friday, and KSTP-TV obtained a copy of it Monday. The warrant has since been sealed and is no longer available.

 

KSTP broke the story about the investigation Tuesday night and provided a copy of the warrant to the Pioneer Press on Wednesday.

 

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension special agent Ann Quinn, who applied for the warrant, wrote in her affidavit that St. Paul police Sgt. John Bandemer asked her in July to help find a 15-year-old girl needed as a material witness in federal court in Nashville as part of a human trafficking investigation.

 

Bandemer, who heads the Gerald D. Vick Human Trafficking Task Force, said the girl "had a long history of being a runaway and was being victimized" by a group of Somali men who were "promoting her into prostitution."

 

Quinn also spoke with St. Paul police officer Heather Weyker, who had questioned the girl in July 2009 when she was arrested in connection with a Richfield robbery. At that time, the girl lied about her identity and about being involved in prostitution, according to the affidavit.

 

Quinn wrote that Weyker later learned from other witnesses that the girl had been forced into prostitution by Somali gangs.

 

With the cooperation of the girl's family, St. Paul police and the FBI detained her July 23 and took her to Tennessee for testimony July 28. She returned home, but she was reported to Minneapolis police as a runaway again on Aug. 2, the affidavit said.

 

Since then, the girl has been implicated in assaults in Rochester, Minn., and was arrested as an adult — after lying about her identity — on suspicion of auto theft in Olmsted County, Quinn wrote.

 

The girl was cited for tampering with an auto and taken to Ramsey County and then Hennepin County on outstanding warrants. She was in custody as of Sept. 13, the day Quinn applied for the warrant.

 

The warrant was to search the girl's cell phone. Because the girl "does not have a permanent home and often stayed with various members of this prostitution gang," Quinn wrote that she believed the phone was the girl's main way of communicating with gang members and prostitution customers.

 

Quinn wrote that she was also looking for photos on the phone that could reveal the identities of suspects, witnesses and additional victims. Records do not describe what investigators found on the phone.

 

Regarding the warrant's availability, BCA spokeswoman Jill Oliveira said Wednesday: "My understanding is it was filed and they made the decision to seal, but before it was sealed it was accessed by some media." She said she didn't know if the warrant was supposed to be sealed from the beginning.

 

In May 2009, Weyker applied for and received a warrant in an investigation into a juvenile prostitution ring run by Somali gang members. A girl, whose age wasn't noted, told an investigator that four males had sexually assaulted her in Brooklyn Park the month before, according to another search warrant affidavit.

 

A police spokesman said at the time that St. Paul police were involved in the investigation because of the department's human trafficking efforts and that federal and local law enforcement agencies were also involved.

 

At the time, police said no one had been arrested in the case. No state or federal charges appear to have been filed against one man named in that earlier affidavit, according to court records.

 

Source: PioneerPress

[SeeKer]

Is this really a surprise for MN residents? I don't even live in the cities and know about the prostitution ring especially around the Cedar Riverside and Seward neighborhood.

 

According to the grapevine the girls are usually transported in a white van with tinted black windows. Sometimes the johns get to do whatever they want in the van or the girls meet them somewhere. Most of the girls are kept under wraps with violence and drugs. Not to mention the ring has branched out into some sick game of taking advantage of old men by blackmailing them after the deed is done.

 

 

Its enough to sicken you definitely when you know that most Somalis do have some idea on who is who in their community. :mad: :mad:

[Ibtisam]

Not to mention the ring has branched out into some sick game of taking advantage of old men by blackmailing them after the deed is done.

Wait so OLD somali men use this service (knowing young girls are forced into it) and then the same gang blackmails them for using the service. (I dont see why you would feel sorry for the old men)

 

IF the old men are involved who are these elders Mr. Jibril wants to inform?

 

Wow sounds like MN somali Community has a problem they need help with fromt he authorities.

 

The said girl is 15, but look at her long list of criminal record already- clearly there is something going wrong!

 

Subxanallah. where are the so called community centers who get funds who helping the community? uuuf calkey :mad: :mad:

[ElPunto]

Should start a Somali Crime Watch thread where all this stuff can be posted.

 

I think it is best not to blame the 'community' for this. If individuals who knew this was going on chose not to report these crimes - the fault lies with them. Why blame a community, some of whom probably had no idea, for this? Community is an easy scapegoat that masks one's avoidance of personal responsiblity.

[Malika]

Interesting to find this here,we had a briefing on grooming this morning - young girls being groomed by boys either their age or slightly older whom apparently are working with older men...It's a scary thought.

 

This seems to happen across the wider communities..

 

Ibti,hehe you got jokes - what community centers? kuwasi akhira maxaa sugeyaa for their lies.

[cynical lady]

Is surprised that people/community are shocked and surprised by this. Let’s get real.

 

p.s Ibti- you should open a fallen angels community center.

 

Mpendwa- i have song for you...But first why were you attending a grooming class?

[Malika]

^LOL-its part of "child protection" training - it was raising awareness,knowing the signs etc etc.I am already a very paranoid parent,with these kind of training,I probably wont let my child out of the house or anyone in the house..Lol

 

Whats the song,mpenzi!

[cynical lady]

[Archdemos]

shocking stuff, so sad for these girld :-(

[Polanyi]

Originally posted by cynical lady:

 

p.s Ibti- you should open a fallen angels community center.

 

[Che -Guevara]

Child prostitution and trafficking is national problem that's not getting the resources and attention it need to be stemmed. It's even more difficult as America is cash strapped.

[Chocolate and Honey]

It is not surprising, really. I don't think this sort of a problem should be left up to the community. Both the FBI and the local law enforcement should pursue it aggressively. All the f-ing old men who use these girls' "services" should be put in jail for child molestation!

[SayidSomal]

what is it that is not surprising you people and more importantly why are you not surprised or even shocked?:

 

the act of prostitution?

the crime of enslavement into prostitution?

The Somalis being involved?

the fact that there are old men involved?

that it is organised criminal enterprise?

 

distinguish please?

 

as for the Somali community associations/centres Here is a topic that i started while back about them and my views

[SeeKer]

Ibti how did you gather from my sentence I felt sorry for them......is it the use of the term taking advantage of. My context for usage hinges upon the knowledge of the men that they are being provided 'free' services only to realize that it is blackmail.

 

As for scapegoating the community, lets be real here. Somalis in Mpls cannot be termed as individuals because everyone is in everyone's else business. I once made a comment about the mentality of not snitching that is very prominent at the moment. The neighbourhood where this ring works is somali that means over 80% of the people there are somalis. You want to tell me that in a bowl of rice you can pick out one unique grain of rice?

 

Allahu ya3lam........for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We turn our blind eyes to too much in MN that even the obscene has become normal. Perhaps it is time that people spoke out against acts such as these way before they require law enforcement. Community action center and crime watch are good organizations to join in the neighborhoods we all live in.

 

Sayid .....why would prostitution be a surprise. Wasn't there a red light district in Somalia? What doesn't surprise me about the story is that it has grown large enough to catch the attention of Federal agents.

 

its been an all around downer of a day!