The Evolution of Traffickers

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Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Previously on Lantern Rescue. Welcome to Lantern Rescue, a ministry program dedicated to bringing light into the darkness of human trafficking. It's time to light the way to freedom. This is Lantern Rescue. We tell the stories, we talk about rescues, and we empower you to do something about it.

William Wilberforce once said, Let it not be said I was silent when they needed me. This is Lantern Rescue. And we are lighting the way to freedom today. I'm Stu Epperson, honored to be in the chair. Usually you hear Robbie Dilmore, who is part of this awesome choreography and hosting this wonderful show, with Mark. Our stars are here. Mark and Alan, TC, and Wren. The whole Lantern Rescue team just about is here.

And Mark, God's doing a lot of things, man. Good to see you, brother. Hey, man. It's good to see you.

He is. And we're excited you joined us on the show. Hopefully everybody knows that the Lantern Podcast on a rescue show is really supported and the foundation of it is Truth Network and used to. And I appreciate your friendship. And you're a part of our team because you allow us to come into your studios and do these recordings. And we're really super excited to have you. And you have been a very vocal person about our ministry.

And a lot of people know you and know your family, and they understand the Epperson family. And I really appreciate your introduction to a lot of others for us who have supported us and got behind us. And so you're really a teammate.

You're behind the scenes working on the ground. So we're so thankful to have you on the show too with us. Well, man, it's great to be here. And there are so many things. I'm excited because I get to hear firsthand from you and the team what all God's doing.

Right. And man, you know, we love it when we are able to talk with you. And Robbie always has great questions.

And I know you will today as well. So we're going to hit the ground running and I'm really going to throw the ball to Wren because we're seeing some things that we want to just share with our listeners, both a particular case and then the issues at hand. So Wren, you want to jump in? Yeah. So something that we wanted to talk about today is the evolution of traffickers and how we're seeing them adapt to circumstances so that it's harder to get charges when they are caught, to get them prosecuted, as well as just making it harder for families to find the victims and making it seem more like a voluntary thing rather than an actual kidnapping. And we've talked about before, very, very few cases are like true kidnappings like what you would see in the movies, but traffickers are really getting creative with their methods of enticing victims and moving them around so that they're not getting that actual trafficking charge if they are caught. So they're skilled in dodging. What are the techniques they're using constantly, Wren, to try to avoid law enforcement, really to try to get away from people like you who are trying to solve this problem and trying to save these little kids?

Right. Well, one of the most common things that we see is them convincing victims. We see this all the time with online presences. You know, the trafficker will pose as a boyfriend or as someone that cares so much about them, and they will entice them to come away with them, to live with them.

You know, you'll have a better life if you're with me, and just really convince them that they're going to have this great life. And then once they do leave and they're away from the protection of their family and friends, they realize they're in a trafficking situation. So that's really common, but a really unique case that we saw recently was just something that you would never really think of. This three-year-old boy was playing on a playground, essentially, and the traffickers enticed him away, and then they wanted to get him across the border, but they didn't want to do the actual physical transportation across the border. That's when the trafficking charges come in, and it's when they actually physically move the victim. So what they were doing is they had a trafficker on one side of the border and a trafficker on the other, and they were trying to get him to walk across on his own. But if they were caught, they would look like these trusted adults. Oh, no, we saw this kid alone. We were trying to help him. We didn't have anything to do with this. So that was really unique and just kind of a way that you have to, it's unfortunate you have to question the motives of people that, you know, maybe someone is out there trying to help out kids, but these people were using this really unique, strange method to evade arrest.

And that way, if they were caught, they had somewhat of an alibi, somewhat of a reason that they were helping this kid. Wow. Mark, you read in the Bible where Satan is the father of lies. You all, and we've got the whole team on, by the way.

We've got Alan, TC, Wren, Mark here. You all are seeing the depths of deception in this human trafficking. Is it not heartbreaking to see people will lie, they will go to lengths of deception just to destroy a child's life? I think about the verse, John 10, the first part of John 10.

We know Christ came that we might have life and it might have it more abundantly, but the first part says the thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. There's deception. Yeah, those three descriptions in Scripture are exact descriptions of what we see, and it's hard to take in that parents can be so naive sometimes, you know, especially in countries where the economical situation is so down that they're so willing to let their child go to something that's not verified. In this case, it was a three-year-old who their parents were clueless in that situation, but in others we see, you know, trafters come to towns and cities and villages and they promise jobs and they promise this and they make false narratives.

They even will use extravagant, you know, to show a website or show business cards, those type of things, and they'll present those to the family. The family thinks this child is going to an apprenticeship or going to work, going to have a job. And they willingly let that child go out the door, and then that minor's, you know, ID or representation of who they are is taken from the trafficker at that moment, and let me just say that's the end. If our team doesn't intercept or something doesn't happen at that point, it is very unlikely that that child is going to get out of that situation. Alan, let me ask you, when your team is, you're in the throws, you're in the warfare, you are in there saving these little ones in all kinds of hostile situations all over the world, really. Alan, how are you able to tell if this perpetrator is lying or if they're telling the truth? I mean, I don't know. I can't even imagine you've got to make split, quick decisions and the life of an eight-year-old girl, or in this case, a three-year-old little boy is at stake here. How do you tell, Alan?

Well, you know, in the earlier episodes, you know, we were talking about some of the raids we did and identify those people being trafficked within those establishments, the clubs, the brothels and all that. And a lot of times, it's very hard just by a visual identification or perception. Sometimes it's actually the Spirit moving in you to move you forward with questioning people. So, everybody knows when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, you know, it's your choice whether you want to acknowledge it or not, but that's really when you've got to listen to the Holy Spirit prompting you.

There's a reason for it, and that's what perpetuates us to further those questions or those queries of the individual or those around the individual. So, really, it's a lot of the spiritual lead, because the eyes can deceive. The Spirit actually speaks to the heart, you know, and that's really where it comes in, I think. Yeah, I hear. I love listening to your program, by the way. I find myself listening on Saturday mornings on the Truth Network to Land and Rescue, and I'm so excited that AFR is carrying it, so many wonderful stations are carrying this program.

And I listen to make sure it sounds okay. Is Robbie asking the right questions? Is Mark on his game? You know, how's TC? How's Rhea and how's Alan?

And then I find myself, like, 30 minutes later, I'm just engaged, because you just heard what Alan said about the spiritual warfare. This is why I'm calling everyone out there, whether you can send a dime or not to this ministry. By the way, please do. Go to landandrescue.org and donate all you can. Please, they need it, because it's going to go right to helping these kids and getting this word out. But pray. You can all pray. Pray for these people.

This is such a critical thing, Mark. Just people hearing what he said, pray that you all will have wisdom. Pray for you all. You've got bullets coming at you guys.

This is evil manifest. You're stepping on that hornet's nest, and they're coming out at you, aren't they? Yeah, I'm always shocked when I get back, and then someone I didn't know or someone I know not that well will contact and say, hey, we're really praying for you over the last year, praying for you and the team in the last month. And particularly, we just got back from a part of the world that is really dominated by Sharia law and by terrorists. And we're working in that environment trying to help those who need help and also assist the government and find those who aren't corrupt. And so weaving our way through that was really difficult. And we had such protection and then also such favor in all that happened. And I really believe that is a result of God going before us and those who prayed for us. Amen. And TC, you've got some recent activity with a case you were going to share with us.

It's good to hear your voice, my friend. Give us the latest and share with us what's going on with this case. This case is actually ongoing, so there are several nuances that I would like the listeners to look for. But the case started with a brother and a sister, a biological brother and sister, 13 and 10 years old. The sister was 13, the brother was 10. And they had been shuffled back and forth between two locations. The biological mother really didn't want anything to do with the kids, so she would send them to the biological father. They were no longer living together, separated in some fashion. And then the father didn't want them and he would ship them back.

And I'm not sure how many times this happened, but eventually the kids gave up on being with their folks and came to rest at a gas station trying to do what they could, panhandle or do what they could to make some money. Which again, these kind of vulnerabilities that are created create an opportunity for traffickers to take advantage. It happens over and over and over again. So here's a weakness.

They're already kids and now they're displaced and they have no money and they have to make a living. So that's a great weakness that is usually exploited. In this case it happens again. So eventually the way that they're living causes the neighborhood to be alarmed. And they actually go and get our guy on the ground there to do something about it. Which is another awesome thing.

Because of the continual work and shining light of the team there in this country, the people know and have hope and actually come to depend upon that work and that light to make a difference in their community. So they go get him, our guy comes in and starts investigating and figuring out what's going on. And he actually gets a hold of the kids.

We have photos of them being fed and taken care of. And so in the process they get the police and they start an investigation. During the investigation the information that I'm giving is coming out and they go and they finally come in contact with the mother. And through the investigation also they found out that the little girl was being raped repeatedly at the gas station. 13 years old she's being raped. And apparently once in a while somebody threw her a buck or 50 cents in U.S. currency for her efforts I guess for what they're doing to her for her exploitation. And then in the end the police bring the mother in and now the girl is inaccessible.

They can't find her again. And so honestly the listeners are going to have to come back and hear the end of the story but our guy there is a bulldog in a very good sense. He continues this investigation. He will not let it go.

He's dedicated to finding the truth. But these are the kind of things that displaced and disadvantaged people come up against all the time. This is what traffickers and oppressors do.

They find these disadvantages and they run with them. Oh, it's just tragic. Lantern Rescue is a U.S.A. based organization that conducts international rescue operations for people suffering from human trafficking. Lantern specializes in sending former U.S. special operation law enforcement and intelligence personnel to partner with host nations and assist them in creating specialized units to combat ongoing security problems such as genocide terrorism and human trafficking.

As a nonprofit charity they offer services free of charge to their host nations. Human trafficking is grown into the second largest criminal activity in the world reaching an estimated 150 billion dollars in annual activity. Lantern Rescue has developed rapidly to combat trafficking. Lantern operates through a trained international network in order to rescue women and children from sex and labor slavery and facilitates holistic aftercare services.

They're gearing up for operations right now and you can go to lanternrescue.org to see how you can support them financially. Folks listening out there right now, you're listening to Lantern Rescue and I'm filling in a day for Robbie. I'm Stu Epperson.

I'm so honored to be here to be talking to Mark and the team. Wren, we're talking about at a gas station. We all stop and get gas. We're talking about, you talked about your case at a playground. What are, what's going on Wren and why are, how could these things happen under, in broad daylight in kind of ordinary life where this evil objectification and victimizing is happening to these little ones?

Right, yeah. That brings up a great point that I wanted to touch on is everyone has a perception in their mind of what certain crimes look like and what trafficking looks like to them. And a lot of people get really tunnel vision and stuck in that human trafficking is someone getting grabbed out of their car in the dark of night by a bunch of big men and it's always girls and it's always this, it's always that. And what those stories perpetuate is the idea that that's the only form of trafficking and it really stops people from being more cognizant of what's happening around them and noticing little stuff that seems off. Like, you know, a couple people trying to get a little boy to walk with them but they're not actually holding his hand, they're not actually really engaging with him. So what's really going on there? And the same thing at the gas station.

Why is this 13 year old here all day, all night, why are they, they never seem to be leaving, they're never really going inside, like what's going on there? So, people need to open up their minds and eyes to what's actually happening around them and not just assume that it's only one certain way that trafficking can happen. Yeah, Mark, this comes in all kinds of forms. This comes in people that are, people that look like nice citizens, that are good upstanding people but they have this dark life and they're making a lot of money on this evil trafficking stuff going on. Talk about that, will you?

Yes, and it knows no age, no limitations, no sex, no gender. So it is, for instance, another case in the past week, an 18 year old girl was being smuggled across, she had had a promise of a job, it was a false promise. Most often when we do the interrogations, our team knows where the sex districts are in those countries and we find out if a girl is going to that, then we know what she's going to.

She's not going to work in a hair salon, she's going into a sex district to be sold. They may not know that. And so, for instance, an 18 year old girl, she was at the border and the smugglers and the suspects had said, look, we're not going to travel with you because if we do, they'll stop. But when you get, if someone tries to stop you, we want you to run, just run, right?

And so our team there, we've trained them, they're well trained, they didn't let that happen when they tried to stop the child. She took off running, they literally got in a vehicle and had to drive down roads until they got her in the next country and brought her in. And of course, at that moment, she's like, hey, no, no, don't do this. She's probably disrupted in her mind and doesn't want to see this happen. But once she sits down and we begin to talk to her and describe the real situation, and the real situation is that she is a commodity. Like you just said, she is for sale. She is a dollar sign. That's all she is.

And whether it's domestic slavery, labor slavery, or in her case would have been sex slavery. So to intercept and to rescue that, we recognize we're making a financial impact on the criminal activity of that area or whatever area we're working in. And that becomes dangerous, and that becomes something that we're always concerned for our intelligence partners and our assets there and foreign team members and trying to keep them protected as well. But it is an industry run by not the desire for sex. It is an industry run by the desire for more money.

It's all a means. These little children are a means to money, to markets. And Alan, we talk about the thousands, the millions in modern day slavery, in modern day sex trafficking, human trafficking.

Yet, when I hear the program, when I hear Atlanta Arrest You, like we're here today, I'm just kind of like, it'll probably take me three weeks to process all this stuff, what TC shared, what Wren shared. Alan, how do we, I hear you guys giving specific names, not names, but giving specific ages of kids. You're talking about that 18 year old girl, the 3 year old boy. Alan, how can we get past these harrowing, horrible numbers and see that these are souls, these are precious little ones. Jesus said, he said, let the little ones come to me, for such is the kingdom of God. Alan, how can we have Jesus' eyes for these kids as you think about humanizing these precious ones for our listeners? There's a perception out there that's made manifest through the movies and that.

That is one particular part. You see it, but the other parts, you know, again, it's led by the heart. That saying, see something, say something. Well, a lot of times, again, I want to go back to, you may not see it with your eyes, but your heart is telling you something. To listen to your heart more than just the perception that's being portrayed to you.

You know, I don't want to say don't trust people, but really I don't. And the fact that it's evil is what this whole thing is about. You've got to let that good in you overwhelm you and when it comes against evil, whether you recognize it with your eyes or not, that good in you will identify that evil and you need to act. You can't just sit back and ignore that voice inside you.

It's there for a reason. God put it in all of us and we just have to be more open and receptive to that. When we go into these situations, you know, a lot of it is violence, potential violence involved in certain operations.

In these other operations, it's more of a soft operation where we're not necessarily in there with guns and masks and all that. It's seeing everyday people, whether it's at a border or on the street, and recognizing them by that voice inside you. I just can't stress enough that God makes us aware of wrongdoing. We just have to be able to act when that's made aware to us. I don't know if that's a question, but that's kind of where it's coming from in me.

That's a great thing. When I was a little kid, we used to have prayer time. Mom and Dad, we'd go around in our family devotions.

I know you did this, Mark, too, probably all you guys. Growing up in this, it was my turn to pray. I'd say, Lord, I pray for all the people in the world. Lord, I pray for all the sick people in the world. I pray for all the unsaved people in the world, that they would come to know Christ. And you realize that so often, even though I was just a kid and we were goofing off, and sometimes we'd pray for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck to try to get our siblings to laugh and disrupt the whole thing, and we'd all get in trouble and the belt might come off.

Only you did that. I'm in a vacuum here. But you think about how—I love what you just said, Alan—pray specifically, pray for this three-year-old little guy. Pray for this 18-year-old little girl. Pray for this team at Land and Rescue. Alan, TC, Rin, Mark, every time you guys are on the radio, every time someone's listening to this program, they need to put this down on their prayer list and pray. You are weaponizing the Holy Spirit of God. You are weaponizing this team to go out and be the hands and feet. I can't kick the door down.

I'm not builder trained like you guys are. But boy, I sure am excited to pray for, to give money to your ministry, to support it. We're trying to get it on as many radio stations as we can.

Some radio stations—I don't know if we can put that out there. It's pretty intense. It's pretty rough. But we are shining, literally like this slogan says, Land and Rescue, lighting the way to freedom.

You've got to shine the light on the darkness, and you all are doing that so well. I have to circle back to TC to go back to this horrendous gas station episode, this girl being abused. Here are so many people complicit in this TC without disrupting anything going on there with the case and the ongoing investigations. Give us where that is and how we can be praying about that specific case, if you would please.

Well, sir, the case is ongoing. So the direct prayer requests in this case are, number one, that the girl and the boy, the kids, are located and relocated. And that the investigation is able to come to a real end, where if the mother is complicit or one of those guys knows the mom, there's some details there.

So our guy there needs the actual details to give to the police that there's a prosecution and that the kids end up in the right place. Just real quick, I wanted to double down on what Alan said. It was so good. My question to the listeners is, and even to myself and the team is, the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. And I just wonder, for all of us, to what lengths are we willing to go to follow that command, specifically in this area of human trafficking and in oppression.

What an awesome team. Mark, you're in the studio with me. We've patched them in and we had a little phone disruption there. But Mark, let me ask you, Mark, how can we be praying as we wrap up today on Land and Rescue? How can we be praying? How can listeners be supporting what you guys are doing? You're the hands and feet of Jesus, saving so many kids of all ages and dealing with the height and the depths of deception that I've never seen before.

Yeah, continuing the same line as Alan and TC. Pray for those victims. Of course, pray for the 3-year-old, the 9- and 10-year-old, the 18-year-old.

And those are the specific cases we've talked about today. But pray for those victims and pray that God's rescue of them continues. That the next person that needs to be introduced into their life and the aftercare process, that that happens and that it's all that it needs to be. And then pray for the wisdom of our teams and this team and then the foreign teams that we've trained that they don't give up. It's hard work.

I mean, it's not easy to go and pull 10, 12-hour days plus pull some night times and to do it six days a week and maybe a small break on a Sunday. And we rotate those days too with those teams and pray for those individuals. They have hardships to work in those environments in their country. We're there, we give them hope and we give them power and strength and we do heavy lifting with them. Then when we're not there, we have to support them in unique ways. So just those are the prayer requests to pray for the kids and pray for the units working and the teams working. And then lastly, just continue to pray that God's favor continues to stay there with foreign governments and those that we work with.

That continues to be in place because the officials that we meet and those who recognize the need in their country and have the purest of motives, that's when the most work gets done. And so continue to pray for that. Awesome. Pray for this awesome team. Thank you so much Alan, TC, Ren, Mark for being with us today on Lantern Rescue. Please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry financially, lanternrescue.org and thank the radio stations that are brave enough to carry this program and listen to the podcast. Share today's episode or any of the wonderful episodes. You'll be thoroughly blessed. If you haven't heard previous programs, go to the Truth Network podcast network, go to lanternrescue, search for it and listen to the whole thing on demand in real time and send it to your friends. God bless you. Thank you Mark and thank you team and thank you for lighting the way to freedom. Thank you brother. God bless you.