Well, this is a crazy story! It turns out Laurie Holden, aka Andrea from The Walking Dead, is a lot more like the bad-ass Andrea from the comic books than she was the Andrea in the series that bent to the will of The Governor. See, Holden has another life beyond Hollywood as a human rights activist, and as part of that role, Holden belongs to an outfit called Operation Underground Railroad. It’s essentially a sting operation run by Tim Ballard, a former CIA agent and former U.S. Homeland Security investigator, and a rag-tag group of off-the-books operatives, a former Navy SEAL, and — among others — The Walking Dead actress Laurie Holden.
Basically, this sting operation went to Colombia, created elaborate back stories, and lured sex traffickers into offering them underage prostitutes in exchange for money (prostitution is legal in Colombia, but not with underage girls). A documentary film crew secretly records the whole operation and compiles evidence to turn over to the authorities. One particular cover story involved luring sex traffickers to a bachelor party at a multi-million dollar mansion. It went down like this, according to ABC News:
On the day of the party, Ballard’s team got the house ready. They even hung a sign outside with balloons, like a teenager’s birthday party, so the traffickers wouldn’t seem out of place bringing young girls into the house. Once the girls arrived, Holden’s job was to keep them occupied by the pool area while Ballard and the undercover officers worked to catch the traffickers on tape exchanging money. Colombian authorities quietly hid, waiting for Ballard’s go sign to move in and bust the party.
Then the sex traffickers started to arrive with the girls. Unaware that hidden cameras are rolling or that police were waiting, Bronschidle, one of the sex traffickers, talked up one of the girls, who he said was 14 and was ready for “everything.” Ballard, still undercover in his role as the best man, waited for him to make the move that would put him away in prison and save the girls.
Fifty-five sex trafficking victims were rescued, including one girl who was sold into prostitution for $1,000 because she was a virgin. Good for you, Laurie Holden.
Source: ABC News
