Migrant forced to work at Texas restaurant lived off customers scraps, officials say
The owner of a Texas restaurant is accused of human trafficking, forcing a man to work and live like a slave, according to news outlets.
Hai Zhuang, who operated the ‘Fun Noodle Bar’ in Abilene, was arrested on Wednesday, Nov. 2, police told TV station KTAB.
Fun Noodle Bar had no comment when reached by McClatchy News on Nov. 3.
Javier Rodriguez-Castro, an immigrant smuggled into the United States from Honduras in January 2021, told investigators he was taken to Fun Noodle after a brief stay at a stash house, according to court documents obtained by the station.
At the restaurant, Zhuang handed cash to the man who brought Rodriguez-Castro, a few $50 and $100 bills, documents said, KTXS reported. Whether he knew it at the time or not, Rodriguez-Castro had just been bought.
He would work for Zhuang for six months, he was told, earning $2,000 every month, according to the station. Shelter would be provided, and food would be given.
After the deal was made, Rodriguez-Castro was shuttled to a house. His passport was taken away, the station reported.
His life consisted mostly of two places, the house and the restaurant, where he worked 10-12 hour shifts, according to KTAB.
Leaving the house alone was not permitted, even to go to the restaurant — a white van picked him up and dropped him off, back and forth, the Abilene Reporter News reported.
Often, he wasn’t fed, so he ate leftovers and scraps from customers’ plates, according to the newspaper.
There were no breaks, not for the bathroom, not for any reason, he told investigators. Sometimes, Zhuang would beat him, the Abilene Reporter News reported.
The pay never came, like the other promises. Still, he kept working.
At the end of six months, he asked Zhuang for his money. Zhuang declined and told Castro that “they owned him now,” documents said, the newspaper reported.
Castro escaped with the help of another man and fled to Dallas in July or August 2021, according to the Abilene Reporter News.
He recounted his experience to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, Human Trafficking Unit, KTAB reported. Investigators were able to corroborate his statement and located the stash house and the white van he’d ridden in day after day.
Zhuang was arrested on a charge of trafficking of a person and booked into the Taylor County Jail, records show. His bail has been set at $200,000. An attorney for Zhuang was not listed in online records.
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