Blub

[Trigger warning.]

107 slave laborers freed in Mexico City:

Mexican authorities have freed 107 indigenous people who officials say were being held as slave laborers in a Mexico City factory disguised as a drug rehabilitation center.

Twenty-three suspects were arrested in Thursday's raid, said Miguel Angel Mancera, Mexico City's attorney general. Two more were arrested Friday morning, officials said.

The victims ranged from 14 to 70 years old, and some were tortured, Mancera told CNN affiliate TV Azteca. Some victims also suffered sexual abuse, he said.

"They were beaten," he said. "Several have wounds, serious wounds. We even have some of the victims with fractures."

All of the victims were suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition, he said. Some were taken to a hospital.

The captives, some of whom speak only indigenous languages and no Spanish, were locked in the building, which had bars on the windows and a fence outside, he said.

They made handbags and clothespins and were not paid. Their only daily meal consisted of chicken legs and rotten vegetables, Mancera said.

"The vast majority of the food we found was spoiled," he said.

Video of the inside of the building showed filthy and crowded living conditions.

The men and women worked 8 a.m. to midnight and were given only a half-hour food break. They were not allowed to go to the bathroom, and many soiled themselves, officials said.

The attorney general labeled it "cruel and inhuman treatment." The victims, he said, were abused mentally and physically, "with all sorts of pressure."

Most of the victims were nabbed off the street by some of the suspects under the guise of giving them treatment for alcoholism or drug addiction, the attorney general said.

"They take them by force, and they take them with the argument that they need to be rehabilitated, that they are addicts," Mancera said.

A few of the victims were brought there by family members who thought their loved ones would receive addiction treatment.

The facility has a sign in front identifying it as Hospital Santo Tomas, Los Eligidos de Dios, which means "St. Thomas Hospital, Those Chosen by God."

There is much, much more at the link.

I don't know what to say, besides this: Human trafficking and slavery is an issue all over the planet, in every country, and in our backyards, wherever we are. There are some great organizations working to end human trafficking and slavery, and we can help by supporting them. Please feel free to leave links to organizations you support in comments. I will recommend donating to the Polaris Project.

Every teaspoon counts.