The young women had no way to escape.

Traffickers brought them from Thailand to cities around the United States, including hotel rooms in Bloomington, to work as sex slaves, said Andrew Luger, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota. On Wednesday, he announced federal charges against 17 people, four of whom live in the Twin Cities.

“The 17 people charged in this indictment ran a large-scale, highly sophisticated sex-trafficking scheme that promised women in Thailand a chance at the American dream,” Luger said. “But instead, exploited them, coerced them and forced them to live in a nightmare.”

At the top of the hierarchical organization was a 55-year-old woman who recruited victims directly from Thailand, according to federal prosecutors. Sumalee “Joy” Intarathong is also accused of being the “house boss” of the operation in Minnesota.

A 59-year-old man from Lakeville, John Zbaracki, was one of the “runners,” a person employed by the organization to accompany the victims whenever they were out-and-about, so they couldn’t escape, according to the indictment.

The ring operated at least seven “houses of prostitution” — which can be apartments, hotel rooms or other places — in the Twin Cities and trafficked more than a dozen victims throughout Minnesota.

When one victim arrived in the Twin Cities, Zbaracki met her at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and drove her to Bloomington to buy condoms and food, according to the indictment. He then took her to a Bloomington apartment, which the trafficking ring leased, and the woman was advertised for sex acts on backpage.com.

VICTIMS COULDN’T LEAVE

The victims, whom the ring called “flowers,” came from impoverished backgrounds in Thailand. They entered into debt bondage “contracts” — usually $40,000 to 60,000 — with the criminal organization in exchange for a visa and travel to the United States, according to the indictment.

Traffickers encouraged the women to get breast implants to make them “more ‘appealing’ to potential sex buyers in the United States,” the indictment said. The cost of the plastic surgery was added to their bondage debt.

“The women were promised that after they worked off a significant debt they would become U.S. citizens and pursue a life as productive members of American society,” Luger said. “The recruiters who met with them in Thailand were friendly, helpful and made the future in the United States sound bright, but it was all a lie. … When the women were brought here, everything changed. The victims … were essentially held prisoner once they arrived.”

They were forced to work long hours — often all day, every day — and have sex with strangers. And they endured physical and psychological abuse by the organization, Luger said. They were threatened that if they tried to leave, their families back home would be harmed.

The women were especially vulnerable: they spoke little to no English, didn’t have much money, and did not know anyone in the United States, except for members of the trafficking organization, Luger said.

A woman might make $180 from a sex transaction, but only $100 of it would be applied to her bondage debt and the remainder would be paid to a “house boss,” according to the indictment. The victims were allowed to keep little to none of the money, and were also charged for housing, travel and food.

TRAFFICKING IN TWIN CITIES, ELSEWHERE

The U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota announced in 2014 an initiative to focus on sex trafficking. The indictment against the Thai sex ring is the ninth filed in such a case since then, but it’s the first that targets an entire organization, Luger said.

Here are maps the U.S. Attorney's office in Minnesota showed about international sex trafficking case. Local hotels pictured in Bloomington. pic.twitter.com/5LZsWdp6ZI — Mara Gottfried (@MaraGottfried) October 5, 2016

The investigation began about 2½ years ago when law enforcement officers noticed a series of Thai women being taken to and from the airport, and shuttled through motels and apartments in the Twin Cities.

“Through surveillance, review of records and receipts, and other law enforcement techniques, we learned that these Thai victims were sent from city to city under the watchful eye of organization employees and lived as modern-day slaves with no freedom of movement,” Luger said.

The indictment, unsealed Tuesday in federal court in St. Paul, alleges that since at least 2009 the criminal organization trafficked hundreds of women. They were brought from Thailand to cities across the United States, including Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C.

There were thousands, if not tens of thousands, of men, who bought sex from the women in the ring over the years, Luger said. They could face charges on the state level.

“The men who purchased sex from an organization such as this are supporting the denial of rights and freedoms to women who have been tricked, abused and coerced,” Luger said.

A number of victims have come forward and officials are hoping that more will now, Luger said. There are protections in immigration law for trafficking victims, he noted.

Twelve of the people charged are Thai nationals and five are U.S. nationals. Eleven were arrested Tuesday in Minnesota, California, Illinois, Georgia and Hawaii. Intarathong, the alleged leader, was previously arrested in Belgium and four remain at large, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Two of the four Minnesotans have not been arrested and their names have not been released. The two arrested are:

Supapon “Ivy” Sonprasit, 31, of St. Paul, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud. She began as a victim of the organization, but then rose within the ranks to “facilitate the trafficking of other women,” according to the indictment.

Zbaracki, the Lakeville man, is accused of being a runner in the operation. He faces charges of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit transportation to engage in prostitution, transportation to engage in prostitution, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and conspiracy to use a communication facility to promote prostitution.

‘AMERICA’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET’

While Terry Williams, of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, said the case is significant, she also said it points to a much bigger problem.

“We must remember that in the first months of 2016, there were 35,000 ads posted on backpage.com for the sale of young women in the Twin Cities area,” Williams said.

Investigators with St. Paul police and the Anoka County sheriff’s office were among those helping federal authorities on the case. In 2010, one of the Anoka County detectives began talking to Sheriff James Stuart in general terms about sex trafficking.

“To be honest with you, even after decades in law enforcement, I was naive to the scope and magnitude that’s occurring underneath our noses every single day,” Stuart said. “And as I began to do my own research and looking into it, I realized this truly is America’s dirty little secret.”

HOW TO GET HELP

Law enforcement says people who have been a victim of sex trafficking or know someone who is can call 612-843-8801.