Federal agents arrested nine people across South Los Angeles on Wednesday morning in the second major sweep of the Figueroa corridor, a stretch long known for street prostitution, where prosecutors say a local gang trafficked girls as young as 14 for sex. According to the Justice Department, 10 defendants have now been arrested in the latest round of the federal crackdown known as Operation Broken Blade.
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First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli did not soften the details. He said the victims "have faced extraordinary and horrific violence." One had part of her cheek bitten off and needed surgery. Another, he said, was raped the same day she had an abortion.
The Los Angeles Police Department worked the operation alongside Homeland Security Investigations and the IRS Criminal Investigation. "We are dismantling the criminal enterprises that profit from human trafficking, rescuing victims, and reclaiming the Figueroa Corridor for the community that has always deserved better," LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said.
CBS LA cameras caught one arrest as it happened: a man led out of a South Los Angeles motel in handcuffs, later identified as Mukeshkumar Rambhai Ahir, 45. Investigators say Ahir managed the Stadium Inn & Spas and was tied to the Hoover Criminal Gang.
According to prosecutors, Ahir admitted that as much as 90% of the motel's rooms were being used for prostitution. Federal charges put a precise figure on his cut: from September 2024 to January 2026, he deposited $64,581 he knew came from the gang's trafficking of children and adults, then broke the deposits into smaller amounts to keep the banks from flagging them to the government.
The case centers on a 65-count indictment against the Hoovers, who prosecutors say largely controlled sex trafficking along the Figueroa corridor from 2021 through this June. Six gang members were charged this week with racketeering, sex trafficking of minors, and related crimes.
The indictment describes a recruitment machine built to prey on the vulnerable. Pimps allegedly targeted minor girls and young women who had run away from home or aged out of foster care, luring them with promises of a luxury lifestyle and then locking them in with drugs, intimidation, and violence. Victims who disobeyed were beaten, branded with a pimp's moniker, or denied food. One defendant is charged with punching a 14-year-old in the face at least five times while holding a heavy watch. Another is charged with producing child sexual abuse material of a minor victim.
Prosecutors say the indictment identifies 51 victims. Five more were identified Wednesday morning alone.
