Mtn. View Police Breaking Open Human Trafficking Case

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- The police department has arrested another suspect in connection with a human trafficking case that originated in Mountain View last month.

Detectives were conducting additional interviews with witnesses connected to the case on Jan. 10, when one of them disclosed that a family member identified as 43-year-old Abel Estuardo Franco Garcia was threatening her as well as one of the trafficking victims and family members.

Franco Garcia was arrested on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on allegations he intimidated a witness or victim.

The victim added that multiple threats have escalated and that Franco Garcia had attempted to dissuade the victim and witnesses from speaking with police regarding the investigation. One detective received a frantic call from the witness he had spoken to the day before. The witness stated that Franco Garcia even used his car as intimidation, threatening to hit their vehicle at a high rate of speed.

Almost a month ago, ring leader Carlos Garza, 33, was taken into custody Dec. 20 on multiple counts of human trafficking. His sister, Evelia De Maria Galvez, is being accused as an accessory to a crime and trying to intimidate a witness.

Mountain View detectives as well as patrol officers responded to a home on the 1900 block of Latham Street on Oct. 4 to follow up on a report that a man had attempted to sexually assault a teenage girl a few months prior. Police had been to the home several times that week, once for a call of a man with a gun threatening to shoot a woman and a young boy as well as another in which a welfare check was made on a possible victim of child abuse.

When officers arrived at the apartment, they immediately noticed that the home appeared to have multiple people living in close quarters. In speaking with two people who were at the apartment, they learned that several families totaling 12 people lived in the two-bedroom apartment. They also learned that renting the apartment was Garza, who is also known by the names Gabino Galvez and Mynor Tobar. He had allegedly helped numerous people illegally come into the United States from Guatemala seeking a better life. But once families made it safely to Mountain View, Garza would intimidate, threaten, and scare them into obedience, creating a culture of fear for anyone who lived with him or was brought here by him, police say.
At that point, the case was referred to our Crimes Against Persons Unit to further investigate what was now classified as a human trafficking case.
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Galvez had allegedly helped her brother bring people from Guatemala to the United States and spoke with a teenage victim in an attempt to dissuade her from providing what she knows about Garza. According to that victim, Galvez threatened that there would be consequences if the victim revealed anything to authorities about Garza or his trafficking efforts. While speaking with that victim, detectives learned she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Garza and by other men Garza brought to the house, police said, adding they would pay Garza to sleep with the victim.
Detectives believe there are multiple victims who were brought to the United States by Garza under false pretenses and need help with the case. They are asking that anyone who may be a victim of either Garza or Galvez to come forward, so they can be questioned and assisted.

Anyone who has any additional information, is a victim and knows one regarding this case may reach out to Detective Marco Garcia at marco.garcia@mountainview.gov.

--Images courtesy of Mountain View Police Department