ABDUCTIONS FOR PROFIT –The TERROR Of BEING TRAFFICKED: SECTION ONE

The INTRODUCTION – and SECTION ONE

When I’m out and about in public and most especially when I’m at church, I delight to see the little ones. I have no children of my own, and though I am blessed beyond measure with many spiritual sons in the faith, I never had children to raise of my own. I’m an Uncle to fourteen nephews and nieces and I used to babysit for them all when they were younger, but that’s not close to the bond of a parent with their child.

There is no way possible for me to understand the anguish of parents who stare into the empty bedroom of their child through tears of anguish. The grotesque violation of them being abducted and whisked away to strange places, seeing strange, cold, unfeeling faces who ignore these little one’s pleas to be returned home to their Mommy and Daddy. The deep despair and numbing fear that these little ones feel when they realize that they will never see them again.

I knew the LORD wanted me to write about this most dreadful subject matter, this nightmarish, horrendous ordeal that’s been active for as long as mankind has had the darkened heart to perpetrate such deeds as human trafficking, and particularly child trafficking. I knew this before I had the opportunity to attend an all day seminar on this subject at the Phoenix Dream Center in Phoenix, AZ. Finding myself there was a kind of confirmation from the LORD that He wanted this done.

After the conference I returned back to Tucson, filed away the pamphlets and materials I acquired at the seminar and pushed it all from my mind, promising myself that I would attend to this “soon”. The seminar was January 14th and now it’s June 4th, and I’ve only just begun to write about this.

This will probably be the most heart wrenching article I’ll ever write. And I’ll likely have to write this piece meal, and step away for a time to collect myself emotionally. Since this will be a series of articles I would greatly appreciate the prayers of all who read this, that the LORD will lead me, instruct me, steady me as I delve into this darkness. From the research I’ve done already, it’s darker than I could have imagined.

The slave trade has been around since the earliest recollections of history; yet we think of our world as being far too sophisticated, too enlightened to delve so deep into this abhorrent behavior. And yet slavery still exists.

America has had its own blight among the Southern plantations in the 18th and 19th centuries.

We know that slavery will be present during the days of the wrath of the LAMB:

REVELATION 6:15-17
15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

So we understand that slavery will never be a thing of the past – not until the LORD Jesus Christ returns and puts an end to this, and all of the atrocities, abominations, and agonies that this world is groaning under.

We’ll break this series down into sections:

First this Introduction and SECTION 1: We will look at some statistics on trafficking, including adults, teens, and children. We will then look at the estimated profits of trafficking and wrap this part up with the various hot spots in the USA and the Globe.

SECTION 2: We will cover the most sought after “merch” in the way of human cargo and examine the profiles of both Abductor and Abductee.

SECTION 3: Signs exhibited by the victims in the public domain will be followed by Identifying the Scenario – what conditions are present that make the victim and the circumstances they are in for easy prey by the abductors.

SECTION 4: This article will deal with How To Help the Helpless and the concluding article:

SECTION 5: How To Help Those Who Help the Helpless.

Let’s begin then:

SECTION 1: statistics on trafficking, estimated profits of trafficking, various hot spots in the USA and the Globe.

Looking over the United States by per capita of every 100,000, Mississippi has the highest number of abductions at 6.38. District of Columbia is number 2 at 6.08; California is placed 6th at 3.43, Florida at 3.26 and Texas at 3.24 people out of every 100,000.

As explained by the World Population Review, “Human trafficking is the serious violation of human rights, involving force, coercion or fraud to exploit a person into slave labor or sexual exploitation.
“[It] can happen to people of all ages and genders and any race or religious background. Women are often used for sexual exploitation, while men are usually used for forced labor. It is believed that one in five human trafficking victims are children [some estimate the percentage of children could be as high as, or near to 25%], and these children are exploited for begging, child pornography or child labor.”

This article continues in saying that according to the Bureau of Justice, “…cases reported from JAN ’08 to JUNE ’10 sex trafficking victims were more likely to be white (26%) or black (40%), compared to labor trafficking victims – Hispanic (63%) or Asian (17%)”.

A common misconception is that human trafficking doesn’t occur in the USA, but we are ranked as one of the worst countries globally: at a rate of 199,000 victims annually! But keep in mind, these numbers are indicative only of cases reported (how many are not?).
In 2020 alone the USA has had 8,839 cases of human trafficking reported – “the most common type of trafficking was sex trafficking, with the most common venues being illicit massage/spa businesses and pornography.

California consistently has the highest human trafficking rates with 1,134 cases reported in 2020, followed by Texas (987 cases), and then Florida (738 cases, and New York (414 cases); these states also have the densest populations in the Union with a very high immigration population.

These four states alone, in one year have had a total of 3,273 human beings disappearing, never to be heard from or seen by their loved ones ever again – in a brief three year period, those numbers are nearly 10,000! Imagine the ripple effect from family members, friends, neighbors, etc. who suffer along with those who now have an empty room in their homes!

The Types of Human Merchandise – Adults (73%), Teens (most presume it's girls in the majority, yet here are teen males who have survived this nightmare), and children (27%) pdf.
Other stats shows that women and girls make up 70% of those trafficked.

The Profits in Abducting Merchandise That Is Human

Globally an estimated 25 million people are subjected to human trafficking and forced labor, which is responsible for an estimated $150 billion dollars annually.

Human trafficking is the second largest criminal trade in the world after arms dealing and represents the fastest growing illicit trade in the world. 40.3 million people are living as slaves worldwide; that’s five times the entire population of Switzerland. Every hour 130 people are trafficked, most being children.
Sexual exploitation earns 66% of the global profits of human trafficking.

You can buy a slave for about 90 bucks.
The USA accounts for – get this – almost 52% of the global human trafficking with sex trafficking of minors accounting for the largest percentage. The source for the above is Youth Underground: Facts & Figures. We will visited this site again.

Global Estimates on Modern Slavery. (pdf)

Profits and Poverty. (pdf)

“This [issue] erodes the safety and health of our communities and transportation networks, the security of our borders, the strength of our economy and the rule of law.”
This is why I find the administration of this current presidential term so reprehensible; because whereas securing national borders was a priority in the previous administration, it seems that the current one is intentional in keeping the borders open, and even in obstructing our Border Patrol agency from doing its job.

A story was related to me that echoes a few others that I heard: Some Border Patrol agents on the Mexican border encountered a steady stream of young girls (ages 14-20) coming over the border, with the same house address for their final destination. This raised red flags and they requested permission for an investigation by their superiors and were succinctly told to “drop it” with no further explanation.

On a side note: A gentleman known by a close friend of mine, who visited him on occasion on his farm in southern Arizona near the border related his own testimony: he would often spend the cool of the evening on his front porch, and many nights throughout the month, around dusk, he would see a line of people at a distance, crossing over from Mexico.
It just so happens that he had a very powerful telescope and would get a look at these travelers up close and personal.

This gentleman is a war veteran and has a nose for his own; he recognizes a military man in a snap. What he said was that probably 1 out of every 10 people crossing the border are military personnel.

I find it interesting from an academic point of view that the Bible talks about slaves in the days in which the antichrist will reign on the Earth: (REV 6:15). No doubt, this is the result of the incredible influx of abducted individuals, who may well be forced to take the mark of the beast as their owners will demand. Of course if the absolutely refuse, they will be made an example of, the same as any free citizen.

Facets of our societies that are most vulnerable to abduction will be covered in SECTION 2 “Profile of the Abducted” – but briefly stated here:

The unemployed or underemployed, illegal immigrants, runaways, orphans, and other marginalized groups of people.

Consider this: if we were a godly nation as we once were (generally speaking, among the GOD fearing common man that was America), our nation would continue to know the blessings of GOD: underemployment would be at an all time low, to say nothing of the unemployed (excluding those intentionally lazy).

This nation’s policies of welcoming immigrants would be far more amenable than they are now and thus the presence of illegals would be far lower (barring those with criminal intent).

Youths run away from home for many reasons, but a high percentage of these relates to physical abuse, drug related issues as well as an unwillingness to submit to parental authority. Were we a godly nation as we once were, these would not be a problem. Incidentally, 1 in 3 children who run away from home are approached by a trafficker within 48 hours of running away.

Orphans – it takes a great deal of money and ‘red tape’ to bring an orphan out of the state system and into a good family; again: were we a godly nation…

Recall what Isaiah the prophet said to the nation Israel that was in rebellion against the LORD their GOD:

ISAIAH 1:6-8
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment. 7 Your country is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire; Strangers devour your land in your presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.

Consider also DEUT. 28:20-68

Vs. 20 "The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.

Vs. 23-25 "And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. 24 "The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. 25 "The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Vs.28-29 "The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. 29 "And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.

Vs. 31 "Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them.

Vs. 32 "Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand.

Tell me if you can see America in this plight… I can!
Bottom line, if we had never turned out backs on GOD as a nation, “human trafficking” wouldn’t be the problem it is today (along with all the other governmental, economic, social ills that plague our people).

As indicated on the National Action Plan of our Federal Government, the four primary prongs of attack are: prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnerships.

PREVENTION – Strategic prevention programs are wide-ranging, from educating vulnerable populations and mitigating risk factors to seeking to prevent goods produced with forced labor from entering US markets.

• Enhance education and outreach efforts, including at-risk populations.

• Enhance community coordinated responses to human trafficking.

• Strengthen efforts to identify, prevent, and address human trafficking in global supply chains.

• Address aspects of nonimmigrant visa programs that may facilitate the exploitation of visa applicants and visa holders.

PROTECTION – Protection encompasses the interventions, services, and supports needed to protect and assist victims of human trafficking. Protection starts with robust outreach and proactive identification efforts and includes providing comprehensive victim services and applying victim-centered, trauma-informed strategies.

• Identify and engage with victims in a victim-centered, trauma-informed, and culturally competent manner.

• Support survivor-informed interventions in which survivors of trafficking are essential partners and help improve service delivery and inform victim assistance policy decisions.

• Seek to protect victims of human trafficking from incarceration, fines, or penalties for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking.

• Improve access to immigration benefits to help provide assistance to victims of human trafficking.

• Expand and improve assistance to victims of human trafficking encountered by law enforcement agencies.

• Seek financial remedies for victims of human trafficking.

• Increase access to social services for victims of human trafficking to increase short- and long-term stability.

PROSECUTION – Prosecution involves holding individuals and entities engaged in human trafficking accountable and dismantling human trafficking networks.

• Improve coordination among law enforcement to increase accountability for human trafficking.

• Build capacity of Federal, state, local, Tribal and territorial law enforcement to investigate and prosecute human trafficking and its illicit proceeds using a trauma-informed, victim-centered approach.

• Enhance efforts to bring traffickers to justice by deploying a broad range of tools, including, where appropriate, financial sanctions, federal contracting suspension and debarment, and travel restrictions.

• Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute forced labor.

PARTNERSHIPS – Effectively combating human trafficking requires collaboration to complement and support the other pillars of prevention, protection, and prosecution. 

• Deepen our understanding of human trafficking networks that primarily impact or operate in the United States.

• Enhance information sharing to inform a strategic outcome.

• Strengthen Federal anti-trafficking efforts through external partnerships, including with the private sector, civil society organizations, and survivor input.

• Cooperate with allies, including trade partners, bilaterally and in regional and multilateral fora to address and combat human trafficking and forced labor.

• Continuously reevaluate the authorities and resources of the U.S. Government to combat human trafficking.

Here is a map that shows the hotspots in our nation for Human Trafficking:

Here is a 20 year history of Human Trafficking.

And here is a link that lists the top 16 cities with the highest incidences for Human Trafficking.

This site has an exhaustive list of links that reveals a plethora of statistics on this issue.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING 101:
Traffickers & Buyers (6 min 20 sec)

The above video endorses the website: Unbound Now

This concludes SECTION 1. 

SECTION 2 deals with:

~ The Most Sought After “Merch”
~ Profile of an Abductor
~ Profile of the Abducted.