Feds charge couple with slave labor

Federal authorities say a San Diego-area couple has been arrested and charged with enslaving an Indonesian woman for domestic labor.

A criminal complaint filed Friday alleges that 44-year-old Firas Majeed and 38-year-old Shatha Abbas forced the woman to work up to 18 hours a day doing housework for no pay and no days off at an apartment in suburban El Cajon. The worker didn’t speak English and didn’t have a passport in her possession.

The woman allegedly came to the United States in November 2015 after years working for the same family in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations began its probe last month after the woman handed a visiting nurse a note seeking help.

The defendants had no phone listing in El Cajon.

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Feds charge couple with slave labor."