(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – A North Shore woman faces a slew of felony charges for allegedly trafficking four people from Mexico and making three of them work to pay off an insurmountable debt, authorities in Lake County say.
Highland Park police last month received a tip about potential human trafficking at a home on Onwentsia Avenue, officials said. The Special Investigation Group within the Lake County Sheriff’s Office worked with several agencies to investigate.
Authorities say they compiled evidence that 34-year-old Gladys Ibanez Olea had trafficked four individuals from Mexico: a 19-year-old woman and her two-year-old son and a 22-year-old woman and her 15-year-old brother.
Olea allegedly promised the group housing, safety and jobs, but seized their identification, money and other possessions when they arrived last year. She then forced the two adults and the teen to work jobs to pay their “debt” for safe entry into the U.S., officials said.
“The victims were forced to give the money they earned to Olea. The ‘debt’ they owed Olea continually grew, and it appeared very unlikely they would be able to pay off the ‘debt,’” the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Wednesday.
Olea allegedly put padlocks on kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator to control the food intake of her guests. She also prevented the 2-year-old child from sleeping during the day so that the baby would sleep at night, police said. On top of that, she allegedly told her victims that their family members in Mexico would be killed if they did not obey her.
This week, prosecutors approved more than a dozen felony counts against Olea, including human trafficking and involuntary servitude. Additional charges were possible, authorities said.
All four victims of the alleged trafficking scheme have been relocated to safety and are receiving services, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
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