FBI investigation dismantles human trafficking network

WASHINGTON – When a 14-year-old girl ran away from her Virginia home after a family conflict in 2018, law enforcement feared she could be vulnerable.

Agents from the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force found the teenager at a known brothel in Maryland. After investigators built trust with her, she told them she had met Daniel Palacios Rodriguez while trying to survive on the streets. Rodriguez groomed her for prostitution. He slowly introduced her into sexual exploitation, and she was eventually trafficked by several people along the East Coast. She often stayed for about...