Bar owner forced woman to have sex with men for $12.50

Enforcement and Deportation Operations Harlingen deported Dora Patricia Flores Canales, a Honduran citizen with a final order of deportation, to Honduras on June 26 with the assistance of ICE’s Deputy Attaché for Deportations in Honduras. Flores is a fugitive alien wanted by Honduran law enforcement authorities for aggravated human trafficking in the form of commercial sexual exploitation. (ICE)

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – U.S. authorities have deported to Honduras a woman accused of recruiting women from the Central American country under false pretenses to work at a bar in Mexico whose owner expected them to become prostitutes.

On June 26, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations agents in Harlingen, Texas, returned Dora Patricia Flores Canales to Honduras for illegally entering the United States and fleeing justice in another country.

Flores entered the United States illegally last November near Eagle Pass, Texas. She was apprehended by Border Patrol agents and held until February 8, when ICE transferred her to San Antonio and then to a processing center in Laredo, Texas.

It was in Laredo that ICE confirmed that Flores had an outstanding arrest warrant in Honduras for aggravated human trafficking, the agency said.

According to the Tegucigalpa Public Prosecutor's Office, Honduran authorities have been searching for Flores since 2019. That's when one of his alleged victims went to immigration authorities in Mexico and said she would rather be deported than continue being sexually exploited, the ministry said in a statement this week.

Flores allegedly told the victim she would cover the travel expenses for a well-paying job in Mexico. However, the trip involved sneaking into Mexico and the job was at a bar called Pantera Rosa (Pink Panther) in the state of Chiapas. The state borders Guatemala and in recent years has become a transit point for millions of people from around the world en route to the United States.

The ministry said the bar owner told the victim she would be paid a commission to persuade men to buy drinks and have sex with them, for 300 Mexican pesos ($12.50). She was also allegedly fined for not arriving at the bar on time or asking permission to leave at times. The victim was also charged with “travel expenses” needed to get her to Mexico, the ministry said.

The victim told authorities she was tired of being exploited, but the owner allegedly threatened to call Mexican immigration authorities. Eventually, the victim chose to leave.

“With this removal, we are sending a clear message that ERO will find, arrest and deport foreign fugitives wanted in their home countries while acting within the laws and policies of the U.S. government,” said Miguel Vergara, director of the Harlingen Office of Enforcement and Deportation Operations.

The Tegucigalpa Public Prosecutor's Office said a judge decided to detain Flores pending trial on aggravated charges of human trafficking upon his repatriation.