A Highland Park woman faces serious charges after local authorities and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security intervened in what is believed to be a case of human trafficking and forced labor. Gladys Ibanez Olea, 34, was charged with multiple felonies, including eight counts of trafficking in persons and seven counts of involuntary servitude, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
According to the Lake County sheriff’s office, Olea allegedly trafficked four immigrants from Mexico, including a 19-year-old woman with her 2-year-old son, a 22-year-old woman, and her 15-year-old brother. These individuals were unknown to each other at the time of their separate arrivals. It is said that Olea promised them housing and jobs but quickly seized their identification, money, and earnings from forced labor to cover a fictitious "debt" for their entry into the United States. Officials indicate that the "debt" was designed to perpetually increase, making it impossible for the victims to repay it.
During the February 7 operation, law enforcement discovered padlocks on kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator, controlling the victims' access to food, the Chicago Sun-Times detailed. Additionally, Olea is accused of forcing the 15-year-old to work by creating a fake I.D. claiming he was 19 and preventing the toddler from sleeping during the daytime with cold baths.
Remarks obtained from CBS Chicago tell another side of the story from Olea's spouse, who claims the accusations are false. The husband alleges padlocks were to protect his children with food allergies, not to deny food to others. "I think she did not like how my wife would always tell her to pay attention to your kids, to feed them, to give them a bath, to change them - and I think she took it upon herself to lie about everything and to put a this tip into police," the woman's husband told CBS Chicago in Spanish.
Olea was arrested at her home and is held in the Lake County Jail awaiting trial. "Human trafficking is a real problem across the United States and right here in Lake County," Sheriff John Idleburg said. All four victims have been rescued and are now receiving support services to recover from their ordeal.
