Eleven people were arrested and four victims were recovered during a sex trafficking sting last week in St. Paul, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Investigators with the BCA’s Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force and the St. Paul Police Department conducted the operation from July 27-28. The suspects talked online with undercover agents who posed as minors or sex buyers, the BCA said. The suspects were arrested when they arrived at an arranged meeting place for an “encounter.”
Four female victims were recovered from “trafficking situations” during the investigation, according to the BCA.
Leonard David Caston, Jr., 30, of Wisconsin was booked into the Ramsey County Jail on probable cause felony promotion of prostitution. Media reports appear to indicate that Caston was charged in January for sex trafficking two women in the Eau Claire, Wis., area.
Ten others were booked on probable cause felony solicitation of a minor under 18 years of age for prostitution, including:
- Malvin Chirongoma, 25, Inver Grove Heights
- Yonis Abdiweli Hashi, 22, Eden Prairie
- Rodrigue Lauture, 42, Minneapolis
- Geber Danian Lopez Mejia, 34, Blaine
- Jose Jacinto Guaman Quizhpi, 29, Minneapolis
- Brandon Emmanuel Rivera Ruiz, 22, Richfield
- Abdul Jameer Shaik, 33, Chanhassen
- Thomas Charles Stephenson, 23, St. Michael
- Robert Jeremy Yang, 41, St. Paul
- Toula-Joe Yang, 35, St. Paul
Charges are expected to be filed in the coming days.
“We are committed to helping Minnesota’s trafficking victims escape the reprehensible actions of those who would buy or sell them for sex,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said. “Our predatory crimes agents will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and advocates to end this terrible crime in Minnesota.”
To report a suspected trafficking situation, call the BCA at 877-996-6222 or email opn.gvcf@fgngr.za.hf.
