Strip centers across the county have become home to illegal gaming facilities and massage parlors that are fronts for a myriad of illegal activities. The Precinct 5 Major Offenders Division is responsible for investigating crimes involving Human Labor Trafficking, Human Sex Trafficking, Prostitution, and violations of the Texas Anti-Gambling statutes.
Conducting undercover operations, Precinct 5 investigators seek to shut down these illegal activities that can destroy individual lives, as well as a community's safety. In less than 3 months the unit shut down a prostitution ring and closed the doors on 5 illegal gaming locations. In the same time frame they have seized close to $60,000 and have taken hundreds of illegal gaming machines off the streets.
These crimes are problems that aren't going away any time soon, but neither is the Precinct 5 Major Offenders unit.
Human Trafficking is, at its very core, modern day slavery and it’s a crime that strikes at the very heart of the American promise of freedom. Today, in the United States, people are bought, sold, and exploited every day. They are trapped, often beaten, starved, and forced to engage in prostitution or to take grueling jobs with little or no pay. For more information on Human Trafficking, including ways you can help, visit the "Blue Campaign" on the Homeland Security Page.
Illegal Gaming Facilities bring with them increases in criminal activity. Large amounts of cash are taken in illegally, paid out illegally, and knowing that these establishments operate outside the law themselves, make them targets for other criminal.
To report possible Human Trafficking or Illegal Gaming Facilities click here.
On occasion the Victim Assistance Unit will work hand in hand with the Major Offenders Unit to provide critical resources to help victims of human trafficking recover, relocate, or any number of needs these survivors might require.
