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Bedbugs help unravel suspected North Texas human trafficking ring
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PRINCETON, Texas — On a row of newly constructed homes in Princeton, Texas, it seems no one noticed anything odd about the quiet two-story brick house on Ginsburg Lane.
That is until the bedbugs arrived.
A local pest control company says it got a call to treat the house.
The technician told police that when he arrived, he was met by young men who showed him around the house.
In each bedroom, he said, three to five women were sleeping on the floor. In open areas of the house, he described “a large amount of suitcases” and no furniture beyond folding tables and air mattresses.
Responding to a tip from the company about suspicious behavior, Princeton police found 15 women living inside the home, all between the ages of 23 and 26.
Four suspects, Santhosh Katkoori, Dwaraka Gunda, Chandan Dasireddy and Anil Male, have since been arrested on charges of human trafficking in connection to the investigation.
According to arrest affidavits, police learned through interviews that the women were in what they believed were internships to learn Java scripting or computer programming.
The affidavits say the women would apply for jobs and, once they got them, would have their salaries paid to a company run by Katkoori and Gunda that would take a 20% cut.
“It’s very new to us, so we’re working through it,” said Lt. Jesus Rodriguez.
It’s the first time Princeton has worked a case like this, Rodriguez said, and the department is receiving help from the Department of Homeland Security studying laptops, phones and fake documents seized from the house.
Police suspect what they found is part of a much larger operation with potentially 100 victims or more.
“And we believe they may have other homes in the area for this operation as well,” said Rodriguez.
He couldn’t say what will happen to the victims in the case, saying it will be up to the courts.
The suspects have all been released on bond.
Katkoori has requested permission to travel the country on business while awaiting trial and a hearing has been set for mid-July
CBS News
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested at airport near Paris, French media reports
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French police arrested Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov on Saturday at an airport near Paris for alleged offences related to the popular messaging app, French media reported.
The French-Russian billionaire, 39, was detained at Le Bourget airport north of the French capital on Saturday evening, one of the officials told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
French television news outlets TF1 TV and BFM TV also reported the arrest, citing unnamed sources, according to Reuters.
He had just travelled from Baku, in Azerbaijan, another source close to the case told AFP.
Durov was expected to appear in court on Sunday.
Manuel Blondeau/AOP.Press/Corbis via Getty Images
Telegram did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment, and the French Interior Ministry and French police had no comment either.
France’s OFMIN, an agency tasked with preventing violence against minors, had issued an arrest warrant for Durov as the coordinating agency in a preliminary investigation into alleged offences including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and promotion of terrorism, one of the sources close to the case told AFP.
Durov is suspected of failing to take action to curb the criminal use of his platform.
“Enough of Telegram’s impunity,” said one of the investigators, adding they were surprised Durov came to Paris knowing he was a wanted man.
Durov started Telegram in 2013 and left Russia in 2014 after he was ousted from VKontakte — a popular social networking site in Russia which he-cofounded — after being pressured by the Kremlin to hand over users’ personal data, which he refused to do.
In a 2016 interview with “60 Minutes,” Durov said he was “horrified” when he learned that Telegram — which was designed to be heavily encrypted so that governments cannot access users’ personal data — was being used by terrorist groups like the Islamic State to communicate.
“I’m personally for the privacy side,” Durov said in that interview when asked whether privacy concerns outweighed security risks. “But one thing that should be clear is that you cannot make just one exception for law enforcement without endangering private communications of hundreds of millions of people because encryption is either secure or not.”
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California experiences rare August snowfall in Sierra Nevada Mountains near Mammoth
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A rare dusting of summer snowfall happened in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California overnight.
The snow was spotted by a deputy in Eastern Madera County at Minaret Vista, who posted the video to their Facebook page on Saturday, August 24.
Madera County Sheriff’s Office
“While it’s rare to see snow this time of year, it’s a reminder of the unpredictable nature of our beautiful Sierra Nevada. If you’re planning to visit, please drive carefully and be prepared for the chilly weather,” according to the Madera County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.
Snow was also recorded at the top of The Summit at Mammoth Mountain, which is 11,053 feet.
“This morning was chill. Take a look at the dusting of new snow on the mid and upper-mountain,” said officials at Mammoth Mountain on Instagram.
You could also see the snow on Mammoth Mountain’s live webcam page.
The National Weather Service sent out an alert to hikers and campers in the area to be prepared for winter conditions, including slick roads.
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Group leads nationwide effort to track antisemitic threats
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