NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A new indictment has revealed the extent of a human trafficking operation allegedly orchestrated by eight Venezuelan nationals, who are now facing multiple felony charges. The indictment, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, details the involvement of a sex trafficking ring that exploited vulnerable women from Venezuela and other South and Central American countries.
The trafficking ring, which operated in Nashville, is said to have lured young, poor, and vulnerable women with promises of legitimate work opportunities in the United States. Once the women arrived in the country, they were told they would be charged an inflated debt and forced into performing sex acts to repay it. In some cases, even after the debt was supposedly paid off, the women continued to be forced into sex work under threats of violence, separation from their families, or deportation.
The indictment named several individuals involved in the operation, including a father and his adult children, as well as two married couples. Among the key figures identified are Yilibeth Del Carmen Rivero, known as “Yibi,” and Kleiver Daniel Mota Rivero, referred to as “Kleiber.” According to investigators, these individuals played a pivotal role in recruiting the women, arranging their transportation to the U.S., and ensuring they worked in the illegal sex trade once they arrived.
The traffickers used electronic payment systems like Western Union and MoneyGram to fund the victims’ journeys to the United States, before bringing them to various hotels across Nashville. The victims were advertised on online platforms, including WhatsApp, where clients could negotiate rates for sex acts.
Metro Nashville Police Chief Drake, speaking at a press conference following the indictment, emphasized the department’s commitment to prioritizing human trafficking investigations. “The trafficking of human beings is abhorrent to all of us. It’s a modern-day form of slavery,” he said. “Our police department will always make human trafficking investigations a priority of our police department regardless of where a suspect is from.”
The indictment further revealed that victims were often subjected to coercion and threats, with some being denied access to their identification and immigration documents to keep them under the traffickers’ control. The charges also point to ties between some of the suspects and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), which has raised concerns about the influence of organized crime in the region.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Director David Rausch vowed that the state’s law enforcement agencies would not tolerate such criminal activity. “We will not stand by and allow TdA or any criminal organization to get a stronghold in Tennessee,” he said. “We will hunt these bad actors down, we will dismantle them, and we will work with every tool we have under the law to hold these violent criminals accountable.”
The suspects allegedly used the proceeds from the illegal activities to fund various aspects of the operation, including hotel room rentals and the purchase of supplies necessary for continuing the prostitution enterprise. The indictment, which includes multiple felony charges, underscores the scale and severity of the trafficking operation.
This case highlights the ongoing issue of human trafficking in the United States, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Metro Nashville Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Agency, have all pledged to continue working together to combat this crime.
As investigations continue, authorities remain focused on bringing justice to the victims and dismantling the network behind the trafficking operation.
