BATON ROUGE — Three people previously arrested by East Baton Rouge Parish deputies pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges on Friday, according to the Department of Justice. 

According to admissions made as part of their pleas, 40-year-old Maurilio Lazcano-Vargas of Mexico operated a scheme that prostituted women—many of whom were in the country illegally —in various location in Louisiana since at least August 2024. 

The operation was allegedly run alongside 53-year-old Edyn Efrain-Arevalo of Guatemala and 41-year-old Zabdi Guzman-Diaz of Mexico, who were also in the country illegally. The two would allegedly ensure that the women performed commercial sex acts and provide orchestrators with the money that was earned. 

According to the department, in October 2025, Lazcano-Vargas placed online ads for commercial sex acts featuring women in the Middle District of Louisiana as well as renting apartments in Baton Rouge, Kenner and New Orleans areas for these acts.

On Friday, Lazcano-Vargas pleaded guilty to sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion. Efrain-Arevalo and Guzman-Diaz also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion.