Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password. Even before details of an alleged multi-state prostitution ring came to light this week, a lot of people were worried. Somali-American members and social workers say they came across a number of warning signs, including brazen solicitations for sex. On Monday, federal authorities unsealed an indictment against nearly 30 people, mostly from Minnesota, who authorities say were involved in a sex ring that spanned three states.
Some in Minnesota's Somali community say they hope the arrests will help root out a problem that many considered too touchy -- and too dangerous -- to discuss. MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding.
Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. Somali-American community members tell MPR News that pimps have been known to approach men in the parking lots of Somali malls and restaurants in Minneapolis. Abdulkadir Sharif said he couldn't believe his ears when a man at a cafe asked him if he wanted in.
I told him, 'You should be ashamed of yourself. To sell our own sisters is not acceptable,'" he said. Sharif is a reformed gang member who now works for a St. Paul mosque. He said the proposition, done in the open, caught him off guard. Sharif said he was involved with the Minneapolis gangs known as the Somali Outlaws and Somali Mafia several years ago, but the groups, at that time, weren't running a prostitution ring.
Sharif isn't confident that the authorities netted the right people. Federal authorities say otherwise. The indictment says over the past decade, the two gangs and their associates, along with a female gang known as the Lady Outlaws, recruited girls and transported them to other states.
