Last week, I wrote about how, despite the subject matter, I was pleasantly surprised by the Substance Abuse Prevention Program’s weekend class on human trafficking.
With human trafficking set to surpass the trafficking of drugs and arms, it’s hard to come to terms with how widespread it is.
But then again, it shouldn’t be that surprising. After all, trafficking drugs and guns carry great risks. We need only look to our southern border to realize how bloody, violent and gruesome those industries are. Not to mention the strict enforcement of laws for a product that has to be replenished after it is sold.
A point Ann Kokkeler, Program Manager of SAPP, relayed. @@http://sapp.uoregon.edu/contact/ann_kokkeler.php@@
“With trafficking humans, unlike guns or drugs, is that you can sell a person over and over again,” she said. “It’s why it’s now a multibillion dollar industry.”
Yet the laws in place are nowhere near the severity for selling humans as they are for drugs or arms.
This information was as interesting as it was revolting. It was also eye-opening. In that same column, I mentioned that right here in Oregon, young girls are being trafficked by nefarious individuals whose only goal is to make money off of selling people. And sometimes, these people are members of our own community.
Make no mistake. They live in our neighborhoods, walk down our streets and we may interact with them being none the wiser to their true nature. And this doesn’t even include the women that we may see living what seem to be normal lives.
They’re at the mall doing nails (extremely popular fronts for trafficking outfits are nail salons), at the local bars having some drinks or even sitting next to you in class.
The sad reality is background plays little importance for many of these girls. Before I learned this, I, like many, believed that it was just poor, downtrodden people who would fall prey to such predators. Furthermore, it was only those from the most desperate areas of the globe that would be coerced or deceived into prostitution.
I’m here to tell you that isn’t the case. Not by a long shot.
The first obstacle is to understand how this happens, and on such a large scale.
It all starts with the pimp. Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Donald Ress, described how pimping is an “expertly crafted con game.” @@http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=116803050643073400@@
The simple labeling of it as a “game” reflects just how truly twisted these individuals are. Unfortunately, they excel in the “game”.
Ress also pointed out how Portland was becoming known as “Pornlandia” due to the hub it has become for sex workers. Women are brought up from California or down from Seattle and are bought and sold to other pimps or johns before they move on to the next destination on their “circuit.”
But that’s Portland, right? It’s much bigger than Eugene and with those big cities come those types of problems, right?
No.
Would you be shocked to learn that the biggest prostitution ring bust in the entire country in 2010 happened right here in the Eugene-Springfield area?
Operation Squash Bug was its name. It was headed by FBI Special Agent Mick Fennerty. Fennerty is also the same agent who solved the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping almost 10 years ago. @@http://criminaljusticeschoolinfo.com/legal-justice-news/2011/05/fbi-helps-elizabeth-smart-find-closure/@@
Stanley Mack “Bug” Spriggs and his outfit were the targets of the operation. Over the course of the operation it was discovered that over 100 women and children were being prostituted by Spriggs and his cohorts.
They used Internet ads on sites like Craigslist and Backpage to entice customers. But by doing so they made sure the case went federal. In November of last year, Spriggs pled guilty to two counts of sex trafficking a minor, and in March of this year was sentenced to 16 years in prison for those charges.
Clearly it was a huge win for Fennerty and Co. But he acknowledged how difficult it is to not only arrest men like Spriggs but then successfully prosecute them, “We need willing witnesses, and sometimes nobody is willing to (testify). Without any witnesses, we don’t have a case. I need them to be willing.”
In total, nearly 40 arrests came about from Operation Squash Bug and over half of those arrests led to convictions.
All of this happened here in Eugene and Springfield. Mere miles away from campus dozens and dozens of women and children were being trafficked. They were being forced to service up to 10 customers a night. Forced to take meth so they could, “stay awake and work.”
Even today, one doesn’t have to search far to see the solicitations online, with girls who look far younger than advertised and have phone numbers from all over the country. Child trafficking hasn’t slowed down one bit.
The one upside however, is that now you know. Awareness is a such a critical aspect when dealing with any problem, but especially one that is typically ignored by many.
With that in mind, on Tuesday, Dr. Cyndi Romine with the nonprofit “Called to Rescue” will be speaking at 5 p.m. in 129 McKenzie. @@http://www.kgw.com/news/special-reports/Child-Sex-Slaves-109493094.html@@
I guarantee you won’t look at the mall the same again.
