Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan has filed suit to shut down a Southwest Houston strip club promoting prostitution and human trafficking.
The lawsuit against the owners and operators of the Chicas Locas club at 6440 Southwest Freeway was filed Tuesday following a lengthy investigation by the Houston Police Department’s Vice Division-Human Trafficking Unit. Investigators discovered women were being recruited from Cuba and Colombia under the guise of a casting call for models and dancers. Instead of providing work as promised, the victims were forced to dance as strippers and engage in commercial sex at Chicas Locas to pay off their debts to their traffickers.
The investigation also confirmed that prostitution was occurring frequently inside Chicas Locas and was being facilitated by the club’s managers. During a 16-month period, undercover officers made over 40 prostitution cases and promotion of prostitution cases at Chicas Locas.
The County Attorney’s lawsuit contends that Chicas Locas has 50 to 100 female entertainers working at one time. The club charges patrons an entry fee and additional fees for access to the more private “VIP” and “Champagne” rooms, where patrons pay $300 to $500 to have sex with the female entertainers.
In October 2017, officers executed a search and arrest warrant at Chicas Locas resulting in seven arrests, including Defendants Jose Galvan, David Carillo and Ana Amelia Roman-Goytia, for felony aggravated promotion of prostitution and engaging in organized criminal activity and knowingly supervising a prostitution enterprise.
The civil lawsuit seeks a court order to shut down the club. A Temporary Injunction hearing is set for April 27 in the 113th Judicial District Court, Judge Michael Landrum presiding.
“These women were seeking a better life and ended up in a nightmarish existence,” said County Attorney Ryan. “In addition to the human toll, prostitution drains our law enforcement resources and costs the taxpayers millions of dollars every year. My office supports the efforts of law enforcement and the outreach organizations that are offering women caught in the web of prostitution a way out of this dangerous life. We will continue to pursue those businesses that promote and profit from these crimes occurring on their properties and we will shut them down if necessary.”
Click here to read the lawsuit.