SAN ANTONIO – Eight people face felony charges in connection with a human-trafficking ring, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Wednesday.
Multiple agencies were involved in the bust, which officials had been investigating for four months.
Daimien Garcia, 27, of San Antonio, is accused of trafficking a child, trafficking a person and the sexual assault of a child, according to a news release from DPS.
Elizabeth Martinez, 31, of San Antonio, faces a count of compelling prostitution of a minor. Arrest records said Martinez met two victims. One of them was a minor who had just run away from home. Martinez befriended them and posted their pictures on Backpage.com, a website allegedly used by men to pay to have sex with women.
Four suspects were charged with prostitution: Jose Gonzales, 35; Cody Flores, 24; Christopher Ramon, 23; and Lee Atherton, 39. All of them are from San Antonio, police said.
Miles Montgomery, 47, of Portland, Texas, is accused of the prostitution of a minor, and Keego Hullaby, 24, of San Antonio, was arrested on the trafficking of a child.
Mugshots for only six of the suspects have been released by authorities.
Police issued an arrest warrant for a ninth suspect, Gabriel De La O, 33, of San Antonio, for the trafficking of a child and trafficking of a person. Officers are actively seeking him.
Since January 2017, special agents with DPS’ criminal investigations division have been investigating human trafficking and prostitution taking place in Bexar County.
As is evident from the charges, some of the alleged victims are juveniles.
The DPS Highway Patrol, University of Texas Health Science Center Police Department, San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office all assisted.