NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A man was arrested Tuesday following an investigation into a human trafficking operation based out of Nashville motels.

According to court documents, special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation conducted an investigation in December 2023 into a human trafficking operation at Super 8 in the 800 block of Murfreesboro Pike and Somatel Nashville Airport Hotel on Metroplex Drive.

During this investigation, officials spoke with two women who claimed they were recruited in Venezuela and smuggled to the United States. Once in Tennessee, the women were reportedly forced into engaging in commercial sex to pay off "fines" of $20,000-$30,000.

Arrest documents detail how the women were sex trafficked under the direction of several people, including Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero and Yilibeth Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera --who were indicted in February for their roles in a Middle Tennessee-based sex trafficking operation.

Tuesday, officers arrested a third person -- 25-year-old Ramon de Jesus Velasquez-Martinez -- for his role in a similar operation involving Mota-Rivero.

According to reports, one of the women said Velasquez-Martinez sent commercial sex clients to her motel rooms, took the money earned from these interactions and frequently took her cellphone to monitor who she was in contact with.

The woman told authorities that in 2024, she escaped the trafficking operation and moved to Miami to work at a restaurant. Velasquez-Martinez reportedly showed up at her workplace and threatened her with a gun to go with him while making comments about her children back in Venezuela. Court documents said after this interaction she returned to Nashville with him and was forced back in to participating in commercial sex acts.

During the investigation authorities reportedly found 26 advertisements for commercial sex posted in Nashville which featured Velasquez-Martinez's phone number as the main point of contact. Authorities said thousands of text messages were recovered between Velasquez-Martinez and other suspects regarding commercial sex clients, advertisements and firearms.

Velasquez-Martinez is charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felony trafficking for a commercial sex act. According to Davidson County Sheriff's Office records, he is being held on an ICE detainer and a $150,000 bond.

If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/human-trafficking-suspect-arrested-after-investigation-at-nashville-motels/