Human Trafficker Arrested, Three Victims of Trafficking Rescued in Santa Ana
Photo: Malik Malveaux
SANTA ANA – Police and partnering agencies were able to identify and rescue three girls identified as victims of human trafficking and put the trafficker behind bars.
The area of Harbor Blvd and Hazard Ave had been under ongoing police surveillance in order to enforce anti-prostitution. Early in the morning on March 9, 2019, in the course of the patrol, Santa Ana police officers contacted a 16-year-old girl and “identified her as a victim of human trafficking,” the release read. Police partnered with Orange County Social Services and Waymakers to rescue and care for the girl.
Detectives began an investigation to locate the human trafficker and were able to determine the identity of one of the suspects: 21-year-old Malik Malveaux from Oakland, CA.
Once detectives located Malveaux’s vehicle outside a local motel the following day, they found and arrested him inside one of the motel rooms. Two girls, ages thirteen and fifteen, were present in the room with Malveaux and identified as human trafficking victims. They were also rescued and provided care by the previously mentioned agencies.
Malveaux was booked into the Santa Ana Jail under charges of human trafficking of a minor, pimping of a minor, and pandering of a minor.
