Three federal prosecutions have, at different moments, been called the largest human trafficking case in US history: the 2003 conviction of garment factory owner Kil Soo Lee in American Samoa, the 2010 Global Horizons indictment involving roughly 600 Thai farmworkers, and Operation Blooming Onion, a Georgia forced-labor conspiracy whose 24 defendants finished being sentenced in June 2026. Which one holds the title depends on how you count — victims, defendants, dollars moved, or convictions actually obtained — and on whether a case that collapsed before trial still qualifies.
Kil Soo Lee and the Daewoosa Garment Factory
The first prosecution to carry the “largest ever” label came out of American Samoa. Kil Soo Lee owned the Daewoosa garment factory, where more than 200 Vietnamese and Chinese workers were held and forced to sew clothing between March 1999 and November 2000. Workers had paid recruitment fees of $5,000 to $8,000 for the jobs. Once inside the fenced compound, they faced food deprivation, beatings, and threats of deportation. One worker lost an eye.1U.S. Department of Justice. Owner of Garment Factory Convicted in Largest-Ever Human Trafficking Case
A federal jury in Hawaii convicted Lee on February 21, 2003, of involuntary servitude, extortion, and money laundering. Both the Department of Justice and the FBI described the case at the time as the largest human trafficking prosecution in their histories. Two co-conspirators pleaded guilty in 2002 and received sentences of 70 and 51 months. Lee was sentenced on June 23, 2005, to 40 years in federal prison.2U.S. Department of Justice. Owner of American Samoa Garment Factory Sentenced to 40 Years
Global Horizons: Larger in Scope, Smaller in Result
Lee’s record did not last a decade. In September 2010, a federal grand jury in Honolulu indicted eight people connected to Global Horizons Manpower Inc., a Los Angeles labor recruiter, over the trafficking of roughly 600 Thai farmworkers to agricultural operations in Hawaii and on the mainland. The FBI called it the largest human trafficking case in the country’s history.3Fox News. FBI Says Largest Human Trafficking Case in US
Prosecutors alleged that CEO Mordechai Orian and other company officials recruited workers in Thailand, placed them in debt, took their passports on arrival, and threatened deportation if they complained. The workers were sent to farms in Hawaii and Washington between 2003 and 2007.4The New York Times. Human Trafficking Case Dismissed Against Global Horizons Officials
The Criminal Case Fell Apart
Three of the eight defendants pleaded guilty. The rest did not go to trial. A related prosecution involving Aloun Farms collapsed after a lead prosecutor gave inaccurate information to a grand jury about the legality of recruiting fees, and the damage carried over. On July 20, 2012, federal prosecutors asked the court to dismiss the remaining charges against Orian and director of international relations Pranee Tubchumpol, saying they were “unable to prove the elements of the charged offenses beyond a reasonable doubt.” The judge granted the motion.5Capital Press. Feds Dismiss Largest US Human Trafficking Case6Civil Beat. Feds Give Up on Global Horizons Human Trafficking Case
Civil Judgments Filled the Gap
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a parallel civil suit in April 2011 against Global Horizons and eight farms, alleging race and national origin discrimination, harassment, and retaliation under Title VII.7EEOC. EEOC Files Its Largest Farm Worker Human Trafficking Suit In March 2014, a federal judge in Hawaii found Global Horizons liable for a pattern or practice of harassment and discrimination against hundreds of Thai farmworkers. The company was insolvent and never defended itself. In December 2014, the court entered a $12.3 million default judgment against Global Horizons and Maui Pineapple Company. Four other Hawaii farms settled with the EEOC for a combined $2.4 million, and Del Monte Fresh Produce settled for $1.2 million.8EEOC. Judge Approves $2.4 Million EEOC Settlement With Four Hawaii Farms
In the Washington state companion case, Senior U.S. District Judge Edward F. Shea awarded the EEOC $7,658,500 in compensatory and punitive damages against Global Horizons in May 2016. Judge Shea called the conduct “reprehensible” and “malicious,” carried out with “reckless disregard” of workers’ rights, health, safety, and financial vulnerability. The award included enhanced damages for workers detained by police after their passports were confiscated and additional punitive damages for workers struck by a supervisor.9EEOC. Federal Judge Awards EEOC $7,658,500 in Case Against Global Horizons
Operation Blooming Onion: The Largest Case Carried to Verdict
If the test is a forced-labor prosecution that reached completion against every defendant charged, Operation Blooming Onion is now the largest in US history. A 54-count federal indictment unsealed on November 29, 2021, in the Southern District of Georgia charged 24 people in an agricultural trafficking conspiracy prosecutors said generated more than $200 million. The scheme centered on Rojas Avila Harvesting, a labor contractor based in Bacon County, Georgia, and connected shell companies that abused the H-2A agricultural visa program to bring workers from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras into the country for onion and blueberry harvesting between 2015 and 2021.10ICE. Human Trafficking Forced Labor Charges Are First Under ICEs New Labor Exploitation Initiative
At least 500 victims were involved. Workers’ travel and identity documents were confiscated on arrival. They were charged unlawful fees for food, housing, and transportation, which produced a cycle of debt bondage. They were held in fenced camps with cramped, unsanitary housing and no safe drinking water, and were made to dig onions by hand for as little as 20 cents per bucket. Threats of deportation, violence, rape, and kidnapping kept them in place. Federal officials said at least two workers died from the conditions.11WJCL. South Georgia Farm Trafficking Sentencing
The final three defendants were sentenced on June 12, 2026, closing out the prosecution of all 24. Margarita Rojas Cardenas received 51 months, Nery Rene Carrillo-Najarro received 40 months, and Brett Donavan Bussey received 10 months, each after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Across the full set of defendants, the charges included mail fraud, international forced labor trafficking, and money laundering. Total restitution ordered in the case exceeded $1.3 million.12Progressive Policy Institute. The US Prosecutes About 200 Cases of Forced Labor and Human Trafficking a Year11WJCL. South Georgia Farm Trafficking Sentencing
Why the Title Keeps Changing Hands
There is no official register of the “largest” human trafficking case, and federal agencies have applied the label by different measures at different times. By victim count alone, Global Horizons stands at roughly 600, and Blooming Onion involved at least 500. By convictions actually secured in a trafficking-labeled prosecution, Lee’s case and Blooming Onion are the two most consequential: Global Horizons produced three guilty pleas on the criminal side, while the broader accountability came through EEOC civil judgments totaling well over $20 million. By dollar scope of the underlying scheme, Blooming Onion’s alleged $200 million in proceeds and 24 charged defendants exceed anything in the earlier cases.
The common thread across all three is coercive control of foreign workers through debt, document confiscation, and threats of deportation inside a fenced or closed worksite. The differences are mostly in what prosecutors could prove, and against how many people, before the case ended.