INDIANAPOLIS — A man arrested during a bust in an Indianapolis sex trafficking operation is pleading guilty in the case.
Court records show Alejandro Santiago reached a plea agreement Thursday, Sept. 26 on one of the three charges he faced for promoting prostitution.
Santiago was arrested in February after IMPD detectives received a tip that that a teenage girl told a neighbor she and four other women were being held and sex trafficked at a house on Eagledale Drive, just south of 30th Street and just north of the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course.
A woman at the house told police she was driven to Indianapolis from Boston for work to help bring her family to the United States. When she got to the house, she says she was forced to have sex with “the boss,” then engage in sex for money.
The money was allegedly collected by Santiago, who police said was running the house.
The woman rescued by police received victim assistance and transportation to the bus station to get back to Boston.
Police believe the operation was the work of the El Tren de Aragua gang, which is based in Venezuela. The gang, which started in a Venezuelan prison 20 years ago, specializes in human and drug trafficking, police said in March.
The organization has spread to Columbia, Peru and Chile with other South American countries reporting activity. According to our NBC affiliate in Chicago, agents from this so-called mega gang were showing up there in October of last year.
Santiago was charged Feb. 25 with three counts of promoting prostitution. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 19, 2024.
