A number of illegal aliens were arrested in a human trafficking sting operation in Polk County, Florida. this month, local law enforcement announced.
According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, 35 illegal aliens were among 219 arrested as part of the seven-day undercover operation. Of those illegal aliens, 12 were men seeking prostitutes, 18 were prostitutes, and three were victims of human trafficking.
“Thirty-five of them should not have been in the United States, but they were,” Judd said. “They were here as suspects, but they were also here as victims. They were forced, indentured into having to be here to pay off their transportation debt among other issues.”
Polk County Sheriff’s Office
The illegal aliens arrived in the U.S. from Cuba, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, and the Bahamas.
One of the illegal aliens arrested is 30-year-old Freddy Escalona, who was charged with felony human trafficking. According to Judd, Escalona loaned a victim money to fix her car and made her prostitute herself to pay back the money.
Escalona, according to Judd, was taking anywhere from 60 to 70 percent of the victim’s prostitution earnings. He allegedly told police he worked with multiple female prostitutes.
“Seeing an increase in illegal aliens in every operation continues,” Judd said. “We are seeing more numbers in every operation. And that should give great pause for the people across the United States.”
News conference: Operation Traffic Stop 2 (September 28, 2023)
During a seven-day undercover human trafficking operation, which began on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Vice Unit and partnering agencies arrested 219 suspects.During this investigation, 21 possible human trafficking victims were identified of the 119 prostitutes who were arrested. Two suspects were charged with human trafficking, a life felony.There were 83 suspects arrested for soliciting a prostitute and traveling to the undercover location to negotiate having sex in exchange for money; 17 other suspects were arrested, and of those, 5 were either deriving proceeds from prostitution or aiding and abetting prostitutes, and 8 drove the prostitutes to the undercover location.Click here to read the news release: https://tinyurl.com/yc84wks5
Posted by Polk County Sheriff's Office on Thursday, September 28, 2023
Last month, in Bay County, Florida, seven illegal aliens were among 19 men arrested for child sex crimes, including one illegal alien who arrived on a B-2 tourist visa but failed to depart in 2021 as part of the terms of the visa.
Another one of the illegal aliens arrived on a J-1 exchange visitor visa but also overstayed after failing to leave the U.S. in 2021.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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