ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – A third suspect has been arrested during an investigation into human trafficking at an Abilene noodle bar.

Restaurant manager Peilun Jiao was arrested Friday morning on a warrant for Trafficking of Persons. KTAB and KRBC were there as police took Jiao into custody at Fun Noodle Bar on the 4300 block of Southwest Drive.

Jiao’s arrest comes one day after owner Hai Zhuang and alleged smuggler Gerardo Quijada-Soto were both indicted for Trafficking of Persons as well.

All three suspects are accused of having a hand in the trafficking of an an undocumented immigrant who was held in a home and forced to work with no money or food for six months.

Court documents state an undocumented immigrant gave a statement to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, Human Trafficking Unit in February, outlining the allegations against Jiao. Zhuang, and Quijada-Soto.

This immigrant told investigators a man later identified as Quijada-Soto smuggled him into the United States with 12 others from Hondarus in January 2021, then took him to a stash house in Houston before he was transported to Abilene.

When he arrived, the documents state this immigrant was at the Fun Noodle Bar on Southwest Drive in Abilene, and he saw Zhuang, who is the owner, exchange a large stack of money with Soto.

The documents state Zhuang told the immigrant he owed the restaurant 6 months of labor then he would be paid $2,000 a month, and that all his food and shelter needs would be covered.

However, this immigrant says Zhuang took him to a house in Abilene and hid his passport, and the documents state the immigrant claims he was then forced to work 10-to-12-hour days without even a bathroom break and was often not fed, forcing him to steal scraps that customers left at the restaurant.

Jiao is accused of taking the immigrant to and from the house of Abilene, not letting him leave.

The documents state Jiao would threaten to call ICE so the immigrant would be deported.

This immigrant also said he was beaten by Zhuang, and when he requested his first $2,000 payment, Zhuang told him “that they owned him now,” according to the documents.

In July or August 2021, the documents state an unknown man helped this immigrant escape and go to Dallas.

A subsequent investigation by the Texas Attorney General’s Office helped authorities locate the stash house in Houston, as well as the house in Abilene where this immigrant was held, and a white van that was used for transportation.

No further information has been released.