13 men arrested in Mass and Cass human trafficking sting – Boston Herald

Thirteen men have been arrested in an undercover human trafficking sting in the troubled area of Mass and Cass.

It's a crackdown Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said of johns looking to exploit women — many addicted to drugs.

“Human trafficking is a violent industry that preys on vulnerable individuals — primarily women who have experienced trauma,” Hayden wrote in a statement. “In many cases, trafficking victims receive little if any of the profits from the so-called ‘dates' they are forced to go on, and instead experience violent assaults and rapes by their exploiters.”

A Boston Police Officer and a Massachusetts State Police trooper worked undercover as sex workers in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard overnight from late Tuesday into Wednesday morning, according to Hayden's office.

Prosecutors say that a total of 13 men — ranging in age from 25 to 64 — in the open-air drug market were willing to exchange cash or drugs to have sex with the undercover police.

The men weren't just Mass and Cass, which has also been called Methadone Mile, but came from neighborhoods throughout Boston; the suburbs of Malden, Medford, Randolph and New Bedford; and at least one hailed from as far away as Orlando, Florida.

One of the men, Andy Morales, 43, has already been arraigned for solicitation of a prostitute at the municipal court in Roxbury. Hours later, he was arraigned again in a Dorchester court on a warrant charging violation of an abuse prevention order and breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor.

On Wednesday afternoon, the open-air drug market and seemingly permanent homeless-and-addict encampment in the area surrounding where the two major Boston thoroughfares meet featured an abundance of trash that spilled into the streets.

One man on a scooter veered off the sidewalk and straight in front of this reporter's vehicle, prompting a sudden defensive maneuver in early afternoon traffic to avoid tragedy. Another woman lay seemingly unresponsive on the corner as cash traded hands between two men only yards away.

Johns and pimps have been taking full advantage of the misery and desperation of the area.

In March alone, at least three men were arraigned on charges of trafficking women there, at least another the following month, another — this one also a child rapist — charged the following month. High-profile Boston attorney and former federal prosecutor Bruce Singal was also arrested for allegedly paying for and receiving a sex act toward the end of April.

“The public health and public safety crises that are centered in the area of Mass and Cass are not simply an issue for Boston officials to address,” Hayden wrote in his statement. “We see individuals travel into this area to prey on those who are vulnerable and struggling.”