Mexico: TJ Police Arrest US Citizen Running Prostitution/Trafficking Ring

The San Diego/Tijuana Border

TIJUANA, MEXICO -- A U.S. citizen accused of running an Internet-based prostitution ring was arrested in the border city of Tijuana.

Dennis Duane Heiny, 47, of Lake Elsinore, California, was being held pending further investigation after he was arrested Monday with three prostitutes and the ring's alleged secretary, according to Lorena Blanco, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana who commented on the case Tuesday.

Heiny allegedly operated the ring out of Tijuana, but catered to American clients who were escorted from the border to Mexican hotels where they met the women, Tijuana Public Safety Secretary Luis Javier Algorri said Monday.

The ring allegedly comprised 35 Mexican women, none of them minors, Blanco said.

Heiny had not been charged with a crime as of Tuesday, and Blanco said the Consulate was not aware of charges pending against him in the U.S. Algorri said the suspect was wanted by U.S. authorities on child pornography charges.

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