BIBB COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) – Homeland Security confirmed Andres Trejo-Velazquez is a Sureños gang member and is investigating a possible connection among the gang, cartels and a Bibb County child sex trafficking ring.
“That is always a part of an investigation of this nature — looking at the profit that is made and what is done with it,” said Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge Steven Schrank.
The Sureños is a violent gang with a long track record of transnational crimes, Schrank said. Typically, the Mexican gang assists cartels in drug smuggling, illegal gun deals and other operations.
“Ultimately, those organizations do help each other in pushing product that poisons our community and generates profit for their activity,” Schrank said.
The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office uncovered a child sex trafficking ring happening in Brent, a city less than 20 minutes away from the heart of Bibb County. Deputies found a bunker where Trejo-Velazquez and six other suspects allegedly held children against their will and then profited off the sexual abuse they endured by others.
That abuse was bringing in at least $1,000 a night for the human traffickers, Bibb County Sherriff Jody Wade said during an initial press conference last week.
Homeland Secuity Investigations has yet to connect if money made was being sent to the Sureños or a cartel. What is clear is that Trejo-Velazquez was an active member of the Mexican gang at the time of his arrest.
“Trejo has gang tattoos that are very much aligned with Sureño gang art,” Schrank said.
Tattoos were an early indicator for the sheriff’s office, Wade said. Not only does Trejo-Velazquez allegedly represent the gang permanently on his body, but he also openly discussed it.
“He’d brag to different people that he was associated with that he was a member of the gang,” Wade said.
HSI’s investigation into Trejo-Velazquez found that while he is a U.S. citizen, family members had ties with Mexico and possibly organized crime.
“We also believe his father was a suspected gang member who ultimately perished in Mexico in 2015 in a clash with a rival cartel or gang,” Schrank said.
The child sex trafficking investigation is ongoing. Trejo-Velazquez and others accused of sexual crimes against children are facing charges.
“I know different people played different roles, and then all of them were involved in the same horrible activity,” Wade said.
Wade could not say what specific role each person played in the operation. He said, however, these were some of the roles: managing the money, scheduling the abuse and providing the children.
The sheriff’s office is searching for more survivors and others who partook in the child sex trafficking ring.
“We’re doing all we can to find all the victims and get them to safety and find all the perpetrators and get them in custody,” Wade said.
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