More than 200 people were arrested by Florida authorities for alleged human trafficking. The sting operation dismantled an already established network in Polk County, right in the center of the state. A record of arrests was even confirmed last week; 219 suspects were left behind bars, according to official data from the local police.
County Sheriff Grady Judd revealed details of the operation in a Press conference. The undercover work lasted seven days and was carried out mainly by the police Vice Unit. “Suspects who solicited prostitutes, people who offered to engage in prostitution and others who benefited from and incited prostitution were arrested.”
In the midst of the investigation, 21 possible victims of human trafficking were identified among the 119 prostitutes. Meanwhile, 83 suspects were arrested for soliciting a prostitute and traveling to the undercover location to negotiate sex in exchange for money.
It also emerged that of the other 17 suspects arrested, five of them took profits from prostitution or were accomplices of prostitutes. An estimated eight of them were taking the prostitutes to the planned undercover site.
Operation Traffic Stop 2
The sheriff’s office also announced that the Operation Traffic Stop 2 allowed the arrest of 35 people without legal status in the United States. By the way, of them, three were victims of human trafficking. The illegal and undocumented migrants are from Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and the Bahamas and Cuba.
“It is alarming to see more undocumented immigrants in each operation. “It should be a huge warning to America,” Polk’s top law enforcement official said.
Of the total number of detainees during the undercover operation, 42 people had illegal drugs. Authorities seized fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, crack, methamphetamine and marijuana. Two of those arrested were carrying firearms.
In addition to the suspects who live in Florida, 18 from other states were arrested. They resided in Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
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