EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – U.S. authorities have deported to Honduras a woman accused of recruiting under false premises females in that Central American country to work at a bar in Mexico whose owner expected them to prostitute themselves.
In June 26, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations agents in Harlingen, Texas, flew Dora Patricia Flores Canales back to Honduras for entering the United States illegally and being a fugitive from justice in another country.
Flores entered the U.S. illegally last November near Eagle Pass, Texas. She was apprehended by Border Patrol agents and remained in custody until Feb. 8, when ICE had her transferred to San Antonio, then to a processing center in Laredo, Texas.
It was in Laredo that ICE confirmed Flores had a pending arrest warrant in Honduras for aggravated human trafficking, the agency said.
According to the Office of the Public Ministry in Tegucigalpa, Honduran authorities have been looking for Flores since 2019. That’s when one of her alleged victims turned herself over to immigration authorities in Mexico and said she would rather be deported than continue to be sexually exploited, the ministry said in a statement this week.
Flores allegedly told the victim she would cover travel expenses for a high-paying job in Mexico. However, the travel involved sneaking into Mexico and the job was at a bar called Pantera Rosa (Pink Panther) in the state of Chiapas. The state borders Guatemala and in the past few years has become a crossing point for millions of people from all over the world on their way to the United States.
The ministry said the bar owner told the victim she would get a commission for persuading men to buy drinks and for having sex with them for 230 Mexican pesos ($12.50). There were also fines for not being in place at the bar on time or for requesting permission to go out occasionally. The victim was also charged for the “travel expenses” of bringing her into Mexico, the ministry said in a statement.
The victim told authorities she became fed up with the exploitation but that the owner allegedly threatened to call Mexican immigration on her. In the end, the victim chose to leave.
“With this removal, we are sending a clear message: ERO will find, arrest and remove foreign fugitives wanted in their home country while acting within the laws and policies of the U.S. government,” said Miguel Vergara, director of the Harlingen office of Enforcement and Removal Operations.
The Public Ministry in Tegucigalpa said a judge decided to hold Flores pending a trial on aggravated human trafficking charges as soon as she was repatriated.
