Reports: Tren de Aragua gang member known as ‘La Barbie’ was prostituting a woman in the Gateway Hotel

Update: Primera posted a video to her TikTok account showing her sitting at an open window. The building seen outside appears to be Stanton Tower, a building directly next to the Gateway Hotel.

@estefania.primera #estefaniaprimera #estadosunidos🇺🇸 #traficandoarteporcentroamerica #viral ♬ sonido original - Dj Fleming 🇻🇪

Update: The New York Post is reporting that Primera goes by the name "La Barbie" and that she is a Tren de Aragua gang member. The New York Post is also reporting that the El Paso hotel Primera was allegedly operating out of was the Gateway Hotel in downtown El Paso.

Evictions at the Gateway Hotel began on September 10, 2024. That is the day the victim was able to leave the hotel.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Law enforcement officers charged Estefania Primera with human trafficking after a victim came forward claiming that Primera had drugged her with fentanyl and forced her into prostitution.

The victim entered the United States illegally on October 23, 2023, court documents state. Soon after that, while staying at an El Paso hotel, Primera approached the victim and offered to get her into prostitution, investigators explain.

The victim refused to participate. That's when law enforcement officials say Primera forced the victim to consume a M30 pill containing fentanyl.

Court documents detail extensive abuse. They reveal that Primera allegedly arranged for men to have sexual contact with the victim. The victim told investigators that all of these contacts happened without her consent.

The victim also told investigators that Primera would force her to take an M30 pill before each encounter. She explained that she saw men engaging in sexual contact with her and that she would wake up with injuries.

At one point, the victim tried to show the hotel manager her injuries. Court documents state that the manager allegedly told the victim that "her husband" was to blame for the injuries. She also told investigators that Primera refused to get her medical attention. The victim also explained that Primera had beat her.

The victim told investigators that she had witnessed men paying Primera to have sexual contact with the victim. The victim claimed never to have received any of that money, according to court documents.

On September 10, 2024, the victim escaped the hotel with the help of a woman and made her way to Border Patrol.

Special Agents investigating the case interviewed the victim and discovered ads with her picture online, advertising sexual contact with the victim.

Investigators say they are choosing not to identify the victim or the hotel where the alleged trafficking occurred in order to protect the victim.

Jail records show Primera remains in custody on a $200,000 bond.