413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

and more, these guys whether they do it through the force angle or whether they do it
through the charisma angle, they all know how to manipulate young girls and women.
Interviewer: So those were the smaller kind of rings, what are you seeing in the bigger
ones
Respondent: I think in the bigger ones, that’s where some of our bigger ones we had
especially women, our big Mexican national ring we had was a woman, the big Chinese
ring that we had was a woman, we just arrested a Chinese woman bringing them through
different states and stuff. I think because they were former prostitutes so they know the
business. We had a big case last year with a white woman running the whole ring.
(Denver Law Enforcement Official)
Male pimps in Denver tend to have lengthy criminal histories. While men arrested for pimping,
pandering, and sex trafficking haven’t had direct ties to drug trafficking, they have typically been in prison
or jail for drug dealing, gang activity, domestic violence, and assaults. One official described pimping as a
crime that is chosen because it is a better business:
Well, we generally see it as a progression. They will go from joining a gang and getting
into gang type trouble as a teenager like your auto thefts and things of that nature to
violent crimes like aggravated assaults and then graduating into the pimp status. The
pimp status … It is actually a better business. You can control your personnel better. It is
generally the younger males controlling the younger females and they control the money.
So it is almost a progression to get to the pimping status. (Denver Law Enforcement
Official)
Denver officials confirmed a link between gangs and sex trafficking in some cases they have investigated.
Sex trafficking cases involving gangs in Denver operate as more of a criminal syndicate. Officials have
uncovered cases involving gang leaders in California that receive the proceeds from sex trafficking
committed by gang members in Denver and other cities. There has also been evidence of the rival gangs,
the Crips and the Bloods, collaborating with each other to sex traffic adults and minors. Similar to the
sentiments expressed above, one investigator surmised that gang members were turning to sex trafficking
after hearing about this less risky opportunity in prison.
Outside of gang involvement in sex trafficking, pimps operate independently. Independent pimps network
socially rather than criminally, as was also noted in other cities in our study. Pimps network with one
another on social media sites and through the telephone, as confirmed through law enforcement evidence
collection. Social media sites such as MocoSpace are reportedly used by traffickers to share information
about the best cities and markets for sex trafficking. Denver is said to be on a Midwest circuit. Although
officials did not see a direct overlap between sex trafficking and drug trafficking, one official noted that
sex traffickers and drug traffickers travel through similar cities:
Respondent: For Denver, Denver likes Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Kansas City and a little
bit into Minnesota. The way it seems to me is that you do not mess with California
because they are bigger than us, you do not go to Texas because they have their own
networks so you kind of have this little Midwest belt. It is along the same lines as our drug
trafficking. The drug trafficking goes generally from Mexico to Denver and then off to the
Midwest.
Interviewer: But you are not necessarily seeing that drug trafficking world colliding
with the human trafficking world
Respondent: We are not, no. (Denver Law Enforcement Official)
Pimps also use social media sites like MocoSpace, Myspace, and Facebook for recruitment. In addition to
recruiting women and minors via social media, pimps in Denver recruit through online ads, off the street,
out of strip clubs, at local malls, and at skate parks. One experienced Denver law enforcement official
poignantly remarked upon the characteristics of women and girls recruited by pimps:
With the victims, I will say that it is across the board, every race imaginable. I would say
that in Denver, the vast majority of our victims are going to be female as are the vast
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