Feds: Houston sex trafficking ring prostituted undocumented girls

Photo of former location of Las Palmas II in the 5600 block of Telephone Rd., Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, in Houston. Photo of former location of Las Palmas II in the 5600 block of Telephone Rd., Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, in Houston. Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close Feds: Houston sex trafficking ring prostituted undocumented girls 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

Federal agents arrested 13 suspects in connection with an alleged sex trafficking ring in Houston that prostituted underage, undocumented girls from Mexico for up to $500 an hour, according to an indictment unsealed Friday morning.

Federal prosecutors allege the ring operated out of several Houston bars and brothels and the suspects charged "premium prices" for sex with underage girls. The girls were locked up and beaten and charged for condoms, the indictment alleges.

The FBI, state and local law enforcement agencies raided clubs in the southeast Houston area Thursday night, including one in the 5600 block of Telephone Road.

Neighbors said they saw 20 or more young girls being led out of the Nuevo Amanecer nightclub after the raid.

The girls were taken away in a bus.

The indictment names 14 suspects including one man who remains a fugitive: Alfonso Diaz-Juarez, aka "Poncho."

Prosecutors described a woman named Hortencia Medeles-Arguello, aka La Tencha, as the "matriarch" of the ring, alleging she employed her daughters and other relatives in the brothels. The suspects relied on pimps known as "padrotes" to recruit, smuggle and supply the young women prostituted in the bars.

The girls were kept locked in a second-story room above a bar now called Nuevo Amanecer, and the ring charged a $20 fee for a condom and $15 to use a prostitution room, according to the indictment. The room and condom fees topped $1.26 million from February 2012 to August.

The charge for the sex acts ranged from $65 for 15 minutes to up to $500 per hour.

The indictment alleges the ring has operated since at least 1999, when "Tencha" ran a bar in east Houston called Las Flores. The family business expanded to include several other cantinas, including one called Las Palmas, where a witness told investigators that she saw eight girls under age 18 working as prostitutes, the indictment shows.

The indictment alleges that when clients came to the room above Las Palmas, Techa and her daughter told them the girls were ages 14 to 17. They also allegedly told customers which girls "had been used more and which ones were 'fresh meat.'"

The prices charged for the sex acts were based on the girl's age and how pretty she was, the indictment alleges. The indictment lists 12 victims, the youngest of whom is now 17 years old.

The clients were allowed to choose from a wide range of sex acts and spank or hit the victims "as long as they didn't hit them in the face," the indictment alleges. The girls were punched or beaten when customers left dissatisfied, prosecutors charge.

The victims told prosecutors they were not allowed to keep the money from the sex acts.