Four Indian-Americans, including a woman, have been charged with allegedly running a human labor trafficking scheme out of a home in Texas, according to a media report. The Princeton Police Department disclosed details of an investigation that resulted in the arrest of four individuals after 15 women were discovered inside the home as alleged victims of human labor trafficking, Fox4News.com reported on Monday night.
The suspects, Chandan Dasireddy, 24, Dwaraka Gunda, 31, Santhosh Katkoori, 31, and Anil Male, 37, were all arrested in March and now face charges of trafficking persons, a second-degree felony. More arrests are anticipated, the channel reported, quoting police sources.
Authorities found that all the young women were forced to sleep on the floor in a home on Ginsburg Lane in Collin County, Princeton. “There was basically no furniture inside the home at the center of human trafficking, just a bunch of computer electronics and blankets,” police stated.
According to another news portal, the McKinney Courier-Gazette, officers from the Princeton Police Department were dispatched on March 13 to a residence following a welfare concern and suspicious circumstances. “After further investigation of the initial report, Princeton Police CID detectives obtained a search warrant for the home of Santhosh Katkoori, where 15 adult females were located. During the investigation, it was discovered that the females were forced to work for Katkoori and multiple programming shell companies owned by him and his wife, Dwaraka Gunda,” the portal reported.
During the execution of the search warrant, multiple laptops, cell phones, printers, and fraudulent documents were seized. It was later determined that several locations within Princeton, Melissa, and McKinney were involved in the forced labor of the victims, including adult males. Additional laptops, cell phones, and documents were seized from these other locations.
The initial concern was raised by a pest control company, which was called in for a possible bed bug issue. “Once inside, the inspector noticed that each room had 3-5 young females sleeping on the floors. There were also large amounts of suitcases. The company contacted the police,” Fox4News.com added.
Princeton Police Sgt. Carolyn Crawford revealed that over 100 more individuals are involved in the operation, “more than half of them victims.” However, she did not disclose the specific type of labor operation that was taking place.
