Los Angeles police say bar scam directed at immigrants is widespread
It seems that there are no limits to how immigrants can be scammed. Angel Jennings of the Los Angeles Times reports on what the story says is “a scene that plays out at bars around the world: under the dimmed lights, a man orders a lady a drink. But at El Arroyo Bar in South Los Angeles, authorities said, some men ordered drink after overpriced drink, as a usually scantily clad young woman sat by their side.” She was a fichera, and her job was to gently coax male immigrants from Mexico or Central America to buy her drinks that could cost four times their regular price. In exchange, such women sit with them, dance a little, flirt and maybe lend a sympathetic ear. The bartender pays the women for every drink they can get the customer to buy them. The City is seeking to crack down on these kinds of scams.
This week, Los Angeles officials voted to shut down the bar as part of an effort to crack down on businesses that drain city resources and attract illegal activity. The investigation into El Arroyo Bar offered a peek into the little-known world of fichera bars that have sprung up across South L.A. as waves of immigrants from Mexico and Central America moved into once historically black neighborhoods.
Such practices are not unique to bars in the Latino community; for example, the Los Angeles Police Department says women are employed to do the same thing in establishments in the Korean community. And in Little Saigon in Orange County, hostesses at coffee houses are employed to encourage customers to order pricier drinks. Ficheras can be found in small neighborhood bars around Huntington Park, East L.A. and now South L.A.
KJ