Saudi Princess Nabbed for Human Trafficking: Cops

A Saudi princess has been arrested after she allegedly held a Kenyan woman "captive against (her) will," requiring her to perform domestic duties some 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for just $220 a month, California prosecutors say. The Saudi woman, Meshael Alayban, 42, has been charged with human trafficking, officials say; conviction could land her in prison for up to 12 years, al-Jazeera reports. But Alayban's lawyer, who says she's a longtime traveler to the US and owns property here, calls the case "a domestic work hours dispute."

The victim's two-year-contract said she'd work eight hours a day, five days a week, for $1,600 a month, prosecutors say. She was stripped of her passport and banned from going home to Kenya; she was brought to the US in May, authorities say. Earlier this week, she caught a bus and shared her story with a passenger, who got her in touch with police. Following a search of a property in Irvine, four other women also left with police. Alayban's bail has been set at $5 million. (More Saudi Arabia stories.)