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Major Developments In Human Trafficking

U.S Attorney Robert Brewer released his San Diego annual regional report. The report included some major developments in human trafficking.

In 2020, the San Diego office led in the national effort to end human trafficking and child exploitation. The release states, “According to a May  26, 2020 report from the Human Trafficking Institute, the Office was #1 in the nation in 2019 for charging  the most new trafficking defendants. We were #4 in the nation for active cases, and we charged the largest  human trafficking case in 2019 – a forced labor case involving 12 defendants.” 

The report goes on to say, “this included a case in August 2020 resulting in the arrest of Luigi Popescu of Romania  for his role in leading a seven-year alien smuggling operation. In September 2020, defendant Joseph Price was sentenced to 15 years in prison after  pleading guilty to sex trafficking a 15-year-old minor.”

Marisa Ugarte, Executive Director of the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition, congratulates the U.S. Attorney General’s office for its outstanding efforts in combating this horrendous crime. “It’s a victory but more work needs to be done. This challenge we face is a relentless evil,” she says.

– JW August, Communications Director