MIAMI VALLEY — Neighbors say changes are coming to several houses that have been vacant since a massive Homeland Security raid over the summer.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, Fuyao Glass America and 27 other locations were raided by Homeland Security on July 26.
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“So since the raid, I think it was a SWAT raid that occurred. Things have gone quiet over there,” Mary said.
Mary lives in and works near the house on Irving Avenue in Dayton.
It’s one of the locations federal agents raided three months ago this weekend.
She said things went quiet after the search, but it’s gotten noisier lately.
“We’re noticing a lot of construction; we’ve noticed carpet sort of being hauled out,” Mary said.
News Center 7 crews could see material stacked through the windows and a full dumpster in the driveway.
“We noticed perhaps in the last month or so that they started doing some work on the property that involved cleaning up some of the landscape and repairing things,” Miami Township resident Greg Jump said.
Jump says the house on his block in Miami Township is now vacant.
News Center 7 checked it out, and two more houses in the township that investigators searched this summer.
Our crews saw activity at a house on Loris Drive. A neighbor said that the house has been fixed up too.
Neighbors at all four properties said there’s been a noticeable drop in traffic, activity, and the number of people at the houses since the searches.
“So something, you know, obviously, has been going on,” Jump said.
This is what Homeland Security (HSI) told News Center 7 after the summer raids.
“Our investigation is focused on allegations of financial crime, money laundering, labor exploitation, and potential human smuggling violations,” HSI Ohio and Michigan Acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey said.
On Monday, an HSI spokesperson said this investigation is still active, and if or when charges are filed, they will become public record.
If anyone has information related to this investigation, they are asked to call HSI at 1-877-4-HSI-TIP or email at HSICincinnatiLaborExTipline@hsi.dhs.gov.
A spokesperson with Fuyao said because of the ongoing investigation, they can’t comment beyond what they told us in July.
Which is, that they don’t believe Fuyao is the target of the investigation, they think it involves a contractor – but they intend to fully cooperate.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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