Federal Raid Targets Alleged Sex Trafficking Ring Along Los Angeles’ Figueroa Corridor

Federal and local authorities arrested 10 people Wednesday in a new sweep targeting alleged sex trafficking along Los Angeles’ Figueroa Corridor, including several alleged members or associates of the Hoover Criminal Gang and the manager of a South Los Angeles motel.

The arrests followed the unsealing of a 65-count superseding indictment that accuses members of the gang of controlling sex trafficking and prostitution along the corridor from February 2021 through June 2026. Prosecutors said the indictment identifies 51 victims, including minors, runaways and young women from the foster care system.

The case marks the second major federal operation focused on the Figueroa Corridor, a stretch of South Los Angeles long associated with commercial sexual exploitation. Federal officials previously described the corridor as a 3.5-mile area running from Gage Avenue to Imperial Highway, and in 2024 announced a coordinated human trafficking initiative involving federal prosecutors, LAPD, city officials and county law enforcement.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the new indictment adds seven defendants to an earlier gang case, including six alleged Hoover gang members charged with offenses such as racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, drug trafficking conspiracy and concealment of money laundering. The seventh new defendant, 45-year-old Mukeshkumar Rambhai Ahir, is identified by prosecutors as the manager of Stadium Inn & Spas, a South Los Angeles motel. Prosecutors allege Ahir financially benefited from the trafficking operation and deposited more than $64,000 in proceeds that he knew came from sex trafficking.

Ahir is also accused of structuring deposits to avoid federal reporting requirements. Federal law prohibits structuring financial transactions to evade reporting obligations, a charge commonly used when prosecutors allege that cash proceeds were split into smaller deposits to conceal their source.

The indictment alleges that gang members and associates recruited victims through social media and in person, targeting vulnerable minors and young women, including those facing financial hardship, emotional instability, foster care involvement or homelessness. Prosecutors say victims were drawn in through false promises, intimidation and violence, and that some were given drugs to create dependency.

Federal prosecutors allege the defendants operated as a coordinated enterprise. According to the indictment, members and associates monitored victims, rented motel rooms, arranged transportation to and from the corridor, created online advertisements, transferred money through apps and punished victims who failed to comply. Prosecutors also allege that victims were required to turn over their earnings and could face assault, humiliation, branding or the withholding of food, drugs or affection.

The legal significance of the case lies partly in the use of federal racketeering law. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, allows prosecutors to charge an alleged criminal enterprise rather than treating each alleged act as an isolated offense. Federal RICO law prohibits a person associated with an enterprise affecting interstate commerce from conducting that enterprise’s affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity. It also makes it a crime to conspire to violate those provisions.

That framework can broaden the case beyond individual trafficking allegations. In a RICO case, prosecutors may try to show that defendants worked together as part of an ongoing criminal organization, using repeated acts to further the enterprise. Here, the government’s theory appears to be that sex trafficking, violence, drug activity, financial transactions, and motel-room arrangements were part of a coordinated operation.

The trafficking charges are also federal offenses. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1591, it is a crime to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, obtain, or maintain a person for a commercial sex act through force, fraud, or coercion, or when the person is under 18. The law also reaches those who knowingly benefit financially from participation in such a venture.

The Justice Department notes that federal child sex trafficking law does not require prosecutors to prove that a victim crossed state or international borders. That distinction is important because many people associate trafficking with transportation, while federal law can apply even when the alleged exploitation occurs locally.

Prosecutors also announced three stand-alone cases as part of the same sweep. Those defendants are accused of trafficking minors and adults through force, fraud or coercion. One defendant, Kenny Ray Mann of Lynwood, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial in August, according to prosecutors.

If convicted, some defendants face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of life imprisonment. The 11 defendants originally charged in 2025 have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for trial on March 18, 2027.

Law enforcement officials described the arrests as part of an effort to dismantle trafficking networks that have operated openly in parts of South Los Angeles. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said authorities were working with federal partners to disrupt criminal enterprises, rescue victims and reclaim the corridor for the community.

The case also reflects a prosecutorial strategy that has developed around the Figueroa Corridor. In September 2024, federal, county and city officials announced a joint initiative aimed at combating human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors in the area. That effort emphasized federal prosecutions, local enforcement and services for victims.

All charges in the indictment remain allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.