LAUREL, Md. — He could run, but he couldn’t hide.
With a SWAT team on the ground and an infrared drone overhead, police raid a home near Laurel’s historic district looking for 31-year-old Robert Eakins.
Just across the street at the Insulators Union Local 24, Julio Caicedo watched it unfold.
VIDEO: Police use a high-tech, infrared drone to capture an alleged sex trafficker and to rescue a female victim in Laurel
“I got to work, I want to say Monday or Tuesday of last week, and a bunch of cop cars outside of the building, and I kind of wondered what was going on and never paid it any mind,” Caicedo told us.
Using the heat-seeking technology, police discovered Eakins hiding in the crawl space underneath the front porch.
A tip a few weeks earlier that a woman had become a victim of a sex trafficker led police to the house where they discovered a female victim heading out to meet a so-called client and led her to safety before Eakins’ capture.
Police say Eakins was already a fugitive from the law, wanted on an outstanding warrant tied to an armed robbery.
Police say the victims of sex trafficking are often caught up in violent situations, hidden from detection behind online advertisements for dates or escorts, as evidenced by the fact that people in this neighborhood had no idea it was even happening.
“It’s very upsetting. I’ve got a young daughter,” said Caicedo, “Not good. Not good. No. Not good. I don’t like it one bit, and luckily, they caught the guy and whatever. It’s taken care of now. It definitely hits close to home when you have young kids.”
If you or someone you know may be a victim, you can call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
