Six people have been arrested on charges related to organized criminal activity and racketeering after a three-month investigation into suspected labor trafficking in Johnson County, Texas, prosecutors said. Investigators also detained and interviewed 31 people as potential victims.
The Johnson and Somervell Counties District Attorney's Office said its investigators conducted the operation with the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and Burleson police, along with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Texas Financial Intelligence Center. Officers served multiple search warrants on Oct. 1 and collected evidence at locations in Fort Worth, Burleson and Mansfield, District Attorney Timothy Good's office said at the time. The office did not then say how many people had been arrested or whether any victims had been identified.
Investigators reported encountering large sums of cash, luxury vehicles and other costly items that officials said were consistent with money laundering. Authorities have not said how much money was found, what was seized or where the property was located.
Only one of the six has been publicly identified: Naideng Jiang, who also goes by "Danny." Johnson County jail records show he was booked on Oct. 2 on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity and participating in racketeering, with bond listed at $500,000 on the first charge and $400,000 on the second. An arrest is not proof of guilt, and Jiang is presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove their case.
Investigators are still searching for another person they say is connected to the case. Officials have not said what kind of labor is at the center of the investigation, where the suspected trafficking took place or what the potential victims are believed to have been compelled to do.
The district attorney's office has said it will not answer further questions or make additional statements while the investigation continues. Prosecutors said the case remains active and that more enforcement actions could follow, and they asked anyone with information to contact the district attorney's office.