GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A human trafficking victim was rescued during an operation that police say a man ran out of a luxury apartment complex in Gwinnett County.
Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson was near Duluth, where police said the victim feared for her life if she ever left the apartment.
The operation happened at a new, state-of-the-art apartment complex called the Constellation Park Apartments, according to police.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Advocates for human trafficking victims told Channel 2 Action News that it’s important for everyone to look out for signs of trafficking.
“Trafficking happens everywhere,” Camila Zolfaghari of Street Grace said.
Police told Johnson that a woman was being held captive and sold for sex behind the gated entrance and state-of-the-art amenities at the luxury apartment complex.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Residents at Atlanta high-rise wake up to second day without power
- How much Georgia residents pay for data centers could be decided in weeks
- Mother of 3 killed outside elementary school while delivering food
Officers arrested 28-year-old Changze Li on Monday for allegedly trafficking at the Constellation Park Apartments on Satellite Boulevard, near Duluth.
Police said Li rented an apartment there specifically to traffic the victim.
Arrest warrants allege that Li would flash a gun at the woman any time she tried to leave and forced her to have sex with buyers for money.
“That is part of the control and coercion that traffickers use,” Zolfaghari said.
Zolfaghari told Channel 2 Action News that traffickers choose their locations like any business.
“A trafficker might say, ‘hey, I’m going to rent this really nice place and then I’m going to be able to charge a little more,’” she said.
Li was arrested in late January for misdemeanor pimping in a different case and bonded out. Now, he faces a felony human trafficking charge.
“That misdemeanor is a tiny slap on the wrist, and we’ve got to change it in Georgia,” Zolfaghari said.
Georgia is one of only a few states where first-time pimping is still a misdemeanor offense.
Zolfaghari told Johnson that she’s fighting for tougher laws so more women will not be trapped and sold.
“Let’s make sure that Georgia is treating pimping and pandering as they should, as a felony, as that serious crime of buying and selling a person,” Zolfaghari said.
Her organization, Street Grace, met with Georgia lawmakers earlier this week about strengthening laws to protect human trafficking victims.
After Li’s most recent arrest, he remains in jail without bond.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]