Ruca

Ruca made a cameo in SANTA, SJW Latina Superhero, where she unknowingly is given her powers. In this book, we start off with Ruca coming back to East LA only to discover everything’s changed. She heads to Whittier Blvd and instead of the usual cruising, there’s an art show. There she discovers an activist group called the BB’s. They tell her about the stolen neighborhood kids and that word is they take them to San Diego to  sell them off. Ruca decides to go to Barrio Logan to find out who’s behind the kidnappings and child trafficking. Along the way, she befriends Vato, the pitbull, Pachuca, the b-girl dancer, and the  good-natured Chicle. 

Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery. According to the U.S. Department of State, 77% of trafficking victims are exploited within their country of residence. The number of victims annually range from 2-4 million; 50% of those victims are children.

Today, the FBI leads 86 Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Forces around the nation and participates in Anti-Trafficking Coordination (ATC) Teams in 12 offices, including Los Angeles.