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The Blumes argue a nearby 15-foot tennis court fence makes their 9-foot barrier seem unfair.

Feds, LAPD Announce Major Human Trafficking Sting In LA

Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times,

Federal authorities have arrested 10 people in a major human trafficking investigation, with prosecutors saying the individuals targeted children and adults along South Los Angeles' Figueroa Corridor, marking the second large federal operation in the area in less than a year.

Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli speaks as Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell (R) and Special Agent in Charge Kenny Cooper of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Los Angeles Field Division, look on at a press conference announcing an arrest in the Palisades Fire investigation in Los Angeles on Oct. 8, 2025. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, alongside Homeland Security Investigations, the Los Angeles Police Department, and IRS Criminal Investigation, announced the arrests on July 1.

A 65-count superseding federal indictment, returned June 25 and unsealed July 1, alleges that members and associates of the Hoover Criminal Gang (HCG) controlled much of the sex trafficking and prostitution activity along the Figueroa Corridor between February 2021 and June 2026.

Prosecutors said the indictment identifies 51 alleged victims.

Nine defendants were arrested on July 1, while another defendant was taken into custody on June 29.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the arrests were intended to disrupt one of the city's most persistent trafficking operations.

"Sex trafficking of young women and children ranks among the worst criminal offenses our office prosecutes - truly the lowest of the low," he said.

Essayli added that officials hope the arrests will "break the cycle of crime and abuse in one of L.A.'s most notorious human trafficking corridors."

Gang Members Charged

Federal prosecutors said six newly charged defendants are alleged members or associates of the HCG. They face charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking of minors, sex trafficking through force, fraud, or coercion, drug trafficking conspiracy, and money laundering.

The indictment also charges Mukeshkumar Rambhai Ahir, 45, the manager of the Stadium Inn & Spas motel in South Los Angeles, with financially benefiting from the alleged trafficking operation.

Prosecutors allege that between September 2024 and January 2026, Ahir deposited more than $64,000 that he knew came from the gang's alleged sex trafficking activities.

They also allege he structured deposits by making smaller cash transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements. Those allegations have not been proven in court.

According to the indictment, gang members allegedly recruited vulnerable girls and young women through social media and face-to-face contact, focusing on minors, runaways, foster youth, and people facing financial or emotional hardship.

The suspects allegedly promised luxury lifestyles before using intimidation, violence, and drugs to maintain control over victims. They also allege that victims were forced to surrender all money earned from commercial sex work and were punished if they refused.

Federal prosecutors also announced separate indictments against three additional men accused of sex trafficking in unrelated cases connected to the broader enforcement effort.

Those cases involve allegations of trafficking minors between the ages of 15 and 17, as well as adults, through force, fraud, or coercion. Two of those defendants were arrested on July 1, while another was arrested on June 24, according to prosecutors.

If convicted, some defendants face mandatory minimum prison sentences of 15 years and could receive life sentences under federal law.

Meanwhile, the 11 defendants charged in the original federal indictment announced in 2025 have pleaded not guilty. Their trial is scheduled to begin on March 18, 2027.

Investigation To Continue

LA Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the operation represents more than a series of arrests.

"We are dismantling the criminal enterprises that profit from human trafficking, rescuing victims, and reclaiming the Figueroa Corridor for the community that has always deserved better," he said, according to the July 1 announcement.

During the news conference, McDonnell said the operation builds on "Operation Broken Blade," which began in August 2025.

"We promised results. Today, we're here to show them," McDonnell said.

He added that investigators "will continue with the relentless enforcement" and would not surrender the community to criminal organizations.

The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the U.S. Attorney's Office, with assistance from several state and local agencies and victim support organizations, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Saving Innocence.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/02/2026 - 20:05

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Jill Biden's Memoir Sales Appear To Be Manipulated By Bulk Sales

Former First Lady Jill Biden's memoir, View from the East Wing, debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction bestseller list on June 21. But how much of its sales were genuine sales from interested readers is unclear.

Former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden speaks with journalist Paola Ramos (L) at the Sixth and I temple and venue on June 3, 2026 in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, DC. while promoting her new book, "View from the East Wing: A Memoir”.Tom Brenner—Getty Images

In fact, when the book appeared on the bestsellers list, it came bearing a dagger (†) symbol, the small mark the Times attaches when retailers report bulk purchases mixed in with regular sales. A book doesn't earn that symbol by accident. It earns it because the paper suspects something other than organic demand is propping up the number.

Whatever propped it up didn't hold.

The book slid to No. 3 the following week, then vanished from the list entirely. Circana BookScan, the retail data source most of the publishing industry actually trusts, tells an even blunter story: the memoir dropped from No. 2 to No. 5 to No. 16 on its hardcover nonfiction chart across successive weeks. By the week ending June 20, it had moved just 3,221 print copies, bringing its total U.S. print sales to 29,539. For a book marketed as a cultural event timed to a midterm cycle Democrats are already sweating over, those numbers look thin.

Statistician Nate Silver, the founder of FiveThirtyEight, noticed the pattern immediately.

It debuted at #1 on the NYT due to astroturfed bulk orders (not my opinion it got the infamous † indicating this) and is now *completely* off the list 2 weeks later. Very rare for a "#1" to fall that fast. Virtually no one except political reporters are actually reading it. https://t.co/dUU8kswlDN

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) June 27, 2026

However, not everyone in publishing sees a scandal. Lauren Cobello, founder and CEO of Leverage with Media PR, a firm that specializes in launching bestselling books, offered a more forgiving read. "I don't think there is anything sinister about it," Cobello said. "I think it's a strategy, a smart strategy for how people are engaging their network so that they can get more books in the hands of their readers." Cobello explained that bulk orders frequently come from bookstores hosting author appearances or conferences, where hundreds of copies get purchased ahead of an event, and that such sales stay legitimate even when the Times flags them.

She extended Jill Biden the same benefit of the doubt. "She probably had bulk purchases, but because she's on a book tour, that would make sense," Cobello said. "The bulk purchases are linked to her book tour." Cobello also pushed back on the idea that the book cratered outright, noting it kept a spot on the USA Today bestseller list after exiting the Times rankings. "It wasn't a complete flop," she said.

However, plenty of bestselling authors go on book tours without their books being flagged by the New York Times for bulk sales, suggesting Jill Biden's book relied on bulk purchases to a degree that stood out.

The paper relies on a proprietary formula rather than raw sales totals, which is exactly the kind of opacity that invites suspicion when a book behaves this strangely. A Times spokesperson told The New York Post that "when The Times has reason to believe that sales of a book include a mix of organic and bulk sales, the book's best-seller ranking is accompanied by a dagger."

In other words, the paper knew something looked off and slapped a warning label on it rather than fixing the ranking itself.

Bulk orders can hijack a bestseller list that's supposed to measure genuine reader appetite rather than the buying power of whoever wants a title to look popular. When one buyer scoops up hundreds or thousands of copies in a single transaction, that stack of books doesn't reflect individual readers choosing to spend their own money. It reflects one entity writing one check, then distributing the copies elsewhere, often to people who might not have purchased the book otherwise.

Bestseller ranking gives a book cachet and credibility, generating press coverage, media bookings, and momentum that might never have materialized organically. While Jill Biden arguably didn't need such publicity to get media attention, a legitimate lack of interest in the book would have been humiliating for the Biden brand.

There is nothing illegal about this practice, and companies do it for employee gifts, and campaigns do it for rallies. In fact, politicians' gaming book sales is nothing new. Forbes reported in 2021 that at least six senators, including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), appeared to use campaign donor money to buy their own books in bulk.

Biden's publisher, Gallery Books, for its part, is sticking to the victory-lap script. "Gallery is thrilled with our publication of Jill Biden's memoir 'View from the East Wing,' which has spent two weeks on the New York Times bestseller list," a spokesperson told The Post, adding that "sales have been driven across retailers with a launch that included national media coverage and in-conversation events at venues partnered with independent bookstores."

It is not known how much of an advance Jill Biden received for the memoir. Joe Biden reportedly received $10 million for his presidential memoir, which still lacks a release date.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/02/2026 - 19:40

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