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Man indicted on sex trafficking counts
Panel named for lakes, City Park master plan
Prosecutors allege ‘El Perro’ operated two brothels off Nicholson Drive BY AIDAN McCAHILL Staff writer
preserving the park and golf course. They fear the eventual plan will try to remove the City Park Golf Course or change the historic nature of CityBrooks Community Park. Before the vote, Commissioner Michael Polito told members of Friends of City Park that their absence from the committee wouldn’t limit their input. “This committee is managing, and guiding, and keeping it on track and
Federal prosecutors allege that a man known as “El Perro” operated a human trafficking ring in Baton Rouge for more than two years, using WhatsApp to attract clients and lure victims to two brothels off of Nicholson Drive. “El Perro” has been identified as Jesus Lopez, a 45-year-old Honduran national who also went by the alias Pedro Vargas. The women ä BR under his control referred couple to him as “Fran,” according arrested to court documents. in second On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted Lopez human on multiple counts of sex trafficking trafficking by force, fraud case. PAGE 4A and coercion, as well as coercing and enticing to travel for interstate prostitution. Two Honduran women, Zaira Lopez-Olivia, 23, and Kirsis Castellanos-Kirington, 30, face similar counts for assisting in the operation. The arrests, made in October, were the result of a yearslong investigation by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. According to an affidavit obtained from the U.S. Middle District Court in Louisiana, detectives with the Sheriff’s Office received a tip in August 2024 that women — possibly underage — were being forced into prostitution at a residence on the 900 block of Aster Street, near Nicholson Drive. The source provided WhatsApp messages advertising commercial sex using a series of photographs showing women in lingerie or naked, purportedly of various nationalities. The messages, which detectives later learned were known as “The Menu,” showcased new women each week, according to
ä See PANEL, page 5A
ä See INDICTED, page 4A
STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
A committee created by BREC will guide the master plan process for Baton Rouge’s lakes area and City Park.
BREC committee to guide process with goal of envisioning area as recreation destination BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer
Last month, a meeting concerning a proposed plan to transform Baton Rouge’s lakes region and City Park descended into lengthy debate and confusion, with multiple proposals and ardent pushback. Attendees objected to the parks commission partnering with outside groups affiliated with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to fund and guide the work, leading the commission to reject
the partnership and fund the $631,000 project alone. The first step has now been taken. During a Thursday meeting, the BREC Commission created a committee to guide the master plan process with the goal of envisioning the area as a recreation destination. But the commission continued to face some pushback, as it rejected residents’ requests to include a representative from an association of homeowners along the lakeshore or Friends of City Park, a group dedicated to
Meta partners for solar farms in La. BY JOSIE ABUGOV
to the tech giant’s construction of its largest data center yet in the state’s northeast. The 385-megawatt projects, with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has developer Treaty Oaks, will gensigned a deal with a developer erate enough power for around for two large-scale solar farms 80,000 homes. Meta will purchase in rural Louisiana, projects tied the solar energy generated at the
Staff writer
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Construction continues on the Meta AI data center near Holly Ridge.
two sites in Morehouse and Sabine Parishes. The clean energy will flow directly to the region’s grid, helping Meta offset a small portion of the emissions from the three gas-fired
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
ä See META, page 5A
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