ICE deports Honduran woman wanted for human trafficking

U.S. authorities have deported a Honduran woman who has been on the run since 2019, accused of human trafficking.

Dora Patricia Flores Canales was returned to Honduras on Friday after spending more than seven months in ICE custody.

Flores allegedly trafficked a vulnerable woman to Mexico five years ago, allowing her to be sexually exploited.

She was arrested in November 2023 after crossing the U.S. border, with ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) team in Harlingen, Texas, obtaining a final order of deportation in late June.

The allegations began in 2018, when Flores called the victim and offered her a job at a bar in Mexico.

The suspect told the victim that her travel expenses would be covered and that she would earn a lot of money once she arrived in Mexico, according to the Honduran prosecutor's office.

But when she arrived at the Pantera Rosa bar in Chiapas, the owner told her that her salary would depend on the number of drinks she sold.

She was also told she could charge clients 230 pesos, or $12.50, to have sex with her.

“In addition, the victim had to pay the cost of the trip, she was controlled by the owner of the bar and by the woman who had taken her, they fined her if she left the premises or arrived late and threatened to hand her over to Immigration, so the offended woman got tired of these abuses and surrendered to the authorities to be deported to Honduras,” the office said in a press release.

An arrest warrant was issued against Flores by Honduran authorities in 2019, for the crime of human trafficking.

In November 2023, Flores arrived at the U.S. border at or near Eagle Pass, ICE said Monday. She was arrested and detained the same day for entering the country without a visa.

On February 26, Honduran authorities confirmed that Flores was wanted for human trafficking and she was eventually deported on June 26.

“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 United States government,” ERO Harlingen Field Office Director Miguel Vergara said in a statement.

“We will continue to protect the American public from those who pose a significant threat to our nation.”

On Monday, ICE also announced that it had arrested 11 known or suspected human rights abusers as part of a nationwide operation conducted between June 10 and 14.