WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has arrested more than 200 people in a large human trafficking operation sting.
According to Polk Sheriff Grady Judd, the seven-day "Operation Traffic Stop" resulted in the arrests of 213 people suspected of trafficking, prostitution and solicitation. Detectives charged those arrested with a total of 68 felonies and 308 misdemeanors.
What You Need To Know
- More than 200 people in a large human trafficking operation sting
- Polk Sheriff Grady Judd: "Operation Traffic Stop" resulted in the arrests of 213 people suspected of trafficking, prostitution and solicitation
- 24 possible human trafficking victims were identified of the 111 prostitutes who were arrested
Detectives from the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office, Auburndale PD, Winter Haven PD, Haines City PD, Lake Wales PD, Lakeland PD, Davenport PD, and Bartow PD, as well as from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, assisted with the investigation.
During this investigation, 24 possible human trafficking victims were identified of the 111 prostitutes who were arrested. Authorities said 14 of the arrested are suspected of being in the country illegally (13 from Cuba and one from Mexico), and six of the 14 were identified as victims of human trafficking.
Almost 90 suspects were arrested for soliciting a prostitute and traveling to the undercover location to negotiate having sex in exchange for money.
Detectives seized fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana during the operation.
"Not only did we arrest more suspects during this single operation than we have ever arrested before, we identified 24 human trafficking victims,” Judd said during a Thursday news conference. “(That’s) the highest number of victims we've ever rescued during one of these investigations. The valuable relationships that we have with the social services organizations who join us in these operations make it possible for these women to get help and be emancipated from this way of life."