(The Center Square) – A multi-agency operation in Polk County resulted in the arrest of 255 individuals allegedly involved in human trafficking, prostitution and child sex crimes.
Fifteen percent of those arrested were in the country illegally, the majority of those were gotaways.
“This is the highest number of suspects we’ve ever arrested during a single undercover operation,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. They arrested 140 johns, 93 prostitutes, 11 child predators and 10 involved in transportation, he said.
“Fifteen percent of the people we arrested weren’t even supposed to be in this country,” Judd said. “But they were in this country committing crime.”
They arrested 36 illegal foreign nationals from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Venezuela.
The majority, 26, were gotaways, those who illegally entered without making any type of immigration or asylum claim and intentionally entered between ports of entry to evade capture. A record more than 2 million gotaways were reported during the Biden administration, The Center Square first reported.
“They had no information on them at all, which means they snuck in [through the southern] border. So, we really don’t know how many illegal immigrants are in this country,” Judd said.
He also described how some of them came and why they won’t leave voluntarily.
Investigators asked them if they’d take the $1,000 to self deport as offered by the federal government. Their reply was, “No, of course not,” Judd said. “They’re not doing that. They’re staying here until we make them leave.”
One noncitizen they interviewed said he paid a coyote $20,000 to bring him into the country illegally and walked for five days through the desert. Another paid $10,000 after previously being deported three times. Another paid $7,000, Judd said.
“When we ask, ‘Why do you keep coming back?’ He said, ‘I always keep coming back. I’m in construction. I can make $60,000 a year here under the table and $10,000 in Mexico.’ Another came from Cuba and saw two people drown along the way.
“They shouldn’t be here. They’re committing crimes,” Judd said.
Overall, detectives brought 102 felony and 284 misdemeanor charges against the 255 suspects. Their prior criminal histories include a combined 400 felonies and 519 misdemeanors, including premeditated murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated battery, and sexual assault. Twenty-five were charged with possession of narcotics.
Of the citizens arrested, most were from 12 states: Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
One of the suspects is active-duty military; 13 are veterans; several are in the medical profession. Some were previously arrested by Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Social workers involved in the operation worked with detectives to screen 93 suspects to determine if they were being trafficked. Among them, four possible human trafficking victims were identified.
The arrests were made during a nine-day undercover operation involving federal, state and county law enforcement officers. Those participating in the operation were from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division; Office of Florida Attorney General, State Attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit, the sheriff’s office of Hillsborough, Lake and Pasco counties; and 10 city police departments.
On Tuesday, ICE issued a separate statement saying its agents interviewed over 50 foreign nationals and placed more than 30 detainer requests with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Citizens of Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Haiti, Colombia, Guatemala, and Brazil – all in the country illegally – “will be taken into ICE custody once their criminal cases are resolved. Their criminal charges range from solicitation of prostitution to soliciting a minor for sex,” ICE said.
“ICE is in a unique position to enforce U.S. immigration law in the interior of the U.S. with its broad investigatory authorities and law enforcement capabilities,” ICE ERO Assistant Field Office Director David Gritte said. “We are committed to our partnerships in these efforts to identity and combat predators engaged in human trafficking and child exploitation.”
