Operation Broken Blade: 10 arrested in historic LA gang RICO sex trafficking takedown

LOS ANGELES - Federal and local law enforcement authorities have enacted a historic crackdown on a multi-year sex trafficking conspiracy operating along South Los Angeles's notorious Figueroa Corridor. 

The unsealing of a massive 65-count gang RICO indictment marks a decisive, multi-agency strike against street-level pimps and complicit businesses exploiting vulnerable women and children.

What we know:

The multi-agency sweep, known as "Operation Broken Blade," represents the first-ever human trafficking gang RICO case brought in the history of the Central District of California. 

Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), IRS Criminal Investigation, and the LAPD, the operation has targeted 25 total defendants over the last 11 months—surpassing the total number of human trafficking charges filed by the office in the preceding five years combined.

The ongoing takedown focuses on a 3.5-mile stretch of Figueroa Street from Gage Avenue south to Imperial Highway, a known haven for commercial sex work. 

The unsealed first superseding indictment names 18 defendants, 17 of whom are tied to a racketeering conspiracy orchestrated by the South LA-based Hoover Criminal Gang (or Hoover Street Gang). 

Officials confirmed that gang members and associates largely control prostitution along the corridor, pooling resources to rent motel rooms and disciplining each other's victims. Some members produced rap music and videos glorifying the gang, sex trafficking, drug sales, and firearms possession.

A total of 51 victims have been identified so far. 

During the execution of Wednesday morning search warrants, law enforcement rescued five additional victims, immediately connecting them with medical and psychological support services.

Ten individuals were arrested during the latest sweep. Seven are directly tied to the Hoover Criminal Gang: Cameron Lockett, 23; Caleed Mouton, 26; Nakhali Miller, 30; Jorge Melendez, 23; Mauricio Ulloa-Franco, Jr., 23; and Lagrane Lenox, 30.

Separately, two gang-affiliated traffickers from rival sets were arrested: Kylan Young of the East Coast Crips and Dejon MacDonald Williams of the Neighborhood Crips. Kenny Ray Mann, 38, was also indicted for sex trafficking.

Among the new defendants is Mukeshkumar Rambhai Ahir, 45, the on-site manager who lived at the Stadium Inn & Spas motel. Ahir is charged with financially benefiting from sex trafficking, having allegedly deposited $64,581 in proceeds he knew derived from a street gang's sex trafficking of children and adults. 

Ahir admitted to investigators that up to 90% of the rooms he rented were used for prostitution, taking a 50% cut of the profits to fund a luxury lifestyle. 

Financial investigators from IRS-CI tracked hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit cash structured across multiple bank accounts to evade federal tracking. 

Ahir admitted he routinely ignored parents who arrived at the property searching for missing children, choosing to rent to anyone with the ability to pay.

Dig deeper:

The details of the operation reveal a horrifying cycle of exploitation. 

Gang members aggressively targeted vulnerable runaways, high school freshmen, and girls within the foster care system via social media and in person. 

Pimps focused on minors with financial or emotional struggles, grooming them with false promises of a luxurious lifestyle before trapping them through forced drug addiction—plying them with oxycodone and methamphetamine—intimidation, and extreme violence. Pimps physically branded the victims with tattoos of their monikers to establish ownership.

Law enforcement verified that victims were forced to remit 100% of their earnings to the pimps, and members posted videos and photographs of their assaults to social media to ensure compliance. 

Defiance resulted in torture.

In one case, a defendant bite off a victim's cheek down to the cartilage, forcing her to lie to hospital staff after getting stitches.

Minor victims as young as 14 were allegedly dragged by their hair and punched repeatedly with a heavy Rolex watch wrapped around a pimp's hand.

A pregnant minor victim was forced to undergo an invasive abortion procedure and ordered back onto the street to perform commercial sex work later that same day.

Other victims faced choking to the point of asphyxiation, public humiliation, and being carjacked and thrown out of vehicles with children in the back seat.

What we don't know:

While officials confirmed that the illicit cash flow eventually reached three operators or associates of the motel—including the property owners—the owners themselves have not yet been charged. 

Federal prosecutors declined to comment on whether the owners are the immediate targets of an impending "Phase Three" investigation.

Authorities also noted that aggressive crackdowns on the Figueroa Corridor have caused some "displacement" of street-level prostitution to other neighborhoods, specifically Koreatown and Western Avenue, though the full geographic extent of where these rings are migrating remains an active investigative focus.

What they're saying:

"Sex trafficking of young women and children ranks among the worst criminal offenses our office prosecutes – truly the lowest of the low. We hope today’s arrests break the cycle of crime and abuse in one of LA's most notorious human trafficking corridors," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.

"The actions taken today by HSI are another decisive blow against those who have exploited the vulnerable people of our community, and they will now face the consequences of those actions. HSI remains steadfast in our mission to protect victims and pursue justice against human traffickers. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure those responsible are held fully accountable and that victims receive the support they deserve," said Eddy Wang, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles.

"By working hand in hand with our federal partners, we are doing far more than making arrests. We are dismantling the criminal enterprises that profit from human trafficking, rescuing victims, and reclaiming the Figueroa Corridor for the community that has always deserved better," said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell.

"As alleged, the individuals associated with the Stadium Inn concealed significant amounts of illicit cash, manipulated business records, and structured deposits across multiple accounts to hide the true source of their income. Working closely with our federal and local partners, IRS-CI remains committed to exposing and disrupting financial schemes that enable human trafficking and other violent crimes," said Darren Lian, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office.

What's next:

The 10 suspects arrested face severe federal charges. 

Convictions for sex trafficking offenses carry harsher sentences under federal law than state law; the defendants face mandatory minimum prison terms of 10 to 15 years, with several facing potential maximum statutory penalties of life in prison.

Law enforcement noted that defendants are dramatically impacted by the prospect of federal custody, with Chief McDonnell noting one suspect literally became physically ill upon learning he was being processed into the federal system rather than local jail, due to strict guidelines requiring inmates to serve 85% of their time far from home.

Federal prosecutors indicated that massive amounts of digital evidence, phones, and records seized during the morning raids will be analyzed to build out subsequent criminal filings. 

Local law enforcement will continue via LAPD’s "290 Task Force," which searched 18 locations on the morning of the operation and arrested four compliance-violating registered sex offenders operating in the area.

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