29 SOMALIS CHARGED WITH SEX TRAFFICKING IN 3 STATES (+ NAMES INSIDE)

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by Sasha Aslanian, Minnesota Public Radio,
Laura Yuen, Minnesota Public Radio
St. Paul, Minn. — Twin Cities girls, including some who were 13 and younger, were shuffled across state lines to work as prostitutes in a wide-reaching sex-trafficking operation controlled by Somali gangs, according to an indictment unsealed Monday in federal court. Federal agents arrested 26 people in Minnesota and Tennessee Monday in relation to the case, and six more were at large.

Three Minneapolis gangs allegedly operated the ring, including an all-female gang known as The Lady Outlaws.

Working with the Somali Mafia and the Somali Outlaws, the group recruited pre-teen and teenage girls to have sex in exchange for cash, marijuana and other items, the indictment said. The female victims were forced to engage in sex acts in places ranging from a Minneapolis apartment complex to a men’s bathroom in a Blaine shopping mall. In all, 29 people were indicted on charges of sex trafficking of juveniles and other crimes. The sex ring operated in the Twin Cities, Nashville, and Columbus, Ohio.

Authorities noted the unusual scope of the organized sex-trafficking operation in a press conference Monday in Nashville. “The number of defendants, the number of states, the movement, that there were repeated victims, repeated commercial sex acts that were alleged in the indictment, gives you some sense of the size of the case,” said John Morton, Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “I would call this one of the more significant cases we’ve investigated in recent memory.” Authorities say the trafficking took place over the course of a decade, beginning in 2000.

The gangs also transported the Somali- and African-American girls from the Twin Cities to other cities to work as prostitutes. Everyone who was involved in the case immigrated to the U.S. legally. In addition, the gangs allegedly conspired to block the investigation and committed perjury while testifying before a federal grand jury. The investigation began in 2008, and was led by St. Paul Police and members of the Task Force on Human Trafficking, which includes federal, state and local law enforcement.

The case first came to light in September, after investigators asked a Ramsey County judge for permission to search the cell phone records of a 15-year-old girl. Authorities believe the girl was lured into a large prostitution ring controlled by Somali gangs. If convicted of the sex-trafficking offenses, the defendants could face 15 years to life in prison. Many Somali-Americans in Minnesota say they hope the developments today will help dismantle the shadowy underworld of human trafficking of their girls.

“In the Somali community, this is a very shameful act,” said Dahir Jibreel, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center. “It’s not something that people talk about in the open. We need to root out the problem.” Jibreel said he learned of several arrests this morning in Bloomington, Minneapolis and St. Paul. Some say in general, trafficking victims are vulnerable to recruitment after running away from their homes.

Some of the girls are lured by promises of a better life, and move into houses shared with other girls and their victimizers, who tended to be women, said community activist Abdirizak Bihi, who has counseled victims through his work with the group Civil Society. “And many men come to the home providing small things such as paying for their cell phones, or stuff they want to buy, and taking advantage sexually of those young girls,” Bihi told MPR News earlier this fall. (MPR)

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Those charged in the indictment are identified as:

Abdifitah Jama Adan, aka “Shorty,” aka “Faleebo,” aka “Kuzzo,” 28;

Abdullahi Sade Afyare, aka “Forehead,”19;

Ahmad Abnulnasir Ahmad, aka “Fabulous,”23;

Yahya Jamal Ahmed, 23;

Abdikarim Osman Ali, aka “Homer,” aka “Big Abdi,” 22;

Musse Ahmed Ali, aka “Fat Boy,” 23;

Hassan Ahmed Dahir, aka “Mohamed Ali Hussein,” 21;

Fadumo Mohamed Farah, aka “Naana Naana,” aka “Gangster Boo,” aka “Barnie,” 25;

Idris Ibrahim Fahra, aka “Chi Town,” 22;

Yasin Ahmed Farah, 19;

Abdullahi Hashi, aka “Kamal,” 24;

Fatah Haji Hashi, aka “Jerry,” aka “Jr,” 23;

Abdirahman Abdirazak Hersi, aka “Biggie,” 20;

Muhiyadin Hassan Hussein, aka “CD,” 22;

Dahir Nor Ibrahim, aka “Dahir Lucky,” 38;

Abdifatah Bashir Jama, aka “Cash Money,” aka “Ohio,” 23;

Andrew Kayachith, aka “AK,” 20;

Abdigadir Ahmed Khalif, aka “Awali,” 24;

Bashir Yasin Mohamud, aka “Br,” 26;

Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed, 22;

Fuad Faisal Nur, aka “Hanjule,” 24;

Abdifatah Sharif Omar, aka “British,” aka “Pinky,” 25;

Liban Sharif Omar, aka “Sunderra,” 21;

Mohamed Sharif Omar, aka “Moe D,” aka “Mojo,” 26;

Hamdi Ali Osman, aka “Big Hamdi,” aka “Boss Lady,” 22;

Haji Osman Salad, aka “Hollywood,” 20;

Bibi Ahmed Said, 19;

Ahmed Aweys Sheik, aka “Rear Hammer,” aka “Abdul,” 24; and

Yassin Abdirahman Yusuf, aka “Junior,” aka “Black Cat Junior,” 21.

This case was investigated by the ICE Office of Homeland Security Investigations, the St. Paul Police Department, the FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, and the Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Van Vincent, of the Middle District of Tennessee, is prosecuting this case.

For more information, visit www.ice.gov.