BATON ROUGE - Three people were federally indicted for allegedly operating a sex ring out of Nicholson Drive and Aster Street locations, according to federal court documents from the Middle District of Louisiana.

Zaira Lopez-Oliva, Jesus Lopez, and Kirsis Castellanos-Kirington were all indicted Thursday for various sex trafficking charges that took place from August 2024 to October 2025, arrest documents say. Documents also point to Lopez as the ringleader, while the other two assisted.

Detectives say in August 2024, they received a tip of possible human trafficking at a location on Aster Street. Officials also identified a second location on Nicholson Drive and learned of an operation on WhatsApp where the suspected traffickers sent photographs of "scantily clad women of various nationalities, advertising that they were available for commercial sex acts."

Investigators interviewed people they pulled over for traffic violations by the Aster Street location, who said they were at the address having sex with unknown women they observed in the message they received from WhatsApp. The price ranged from $40 to $60, depending on the client.

In October 2025, agents raided the locations in October 2025 and located two women who said they were both in financial trouble and had been put in touch with Lopez, the complaint said.