An undercover human trafficking sting in Florida has resulted in the arrests of 157 suspects, including illegal immigrants, officials announced on Wednesday.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd revealed in a press conference that the alleged offenders were arrested in a five-day, multi-agency sting called “Operation Autumn Sweep.”
The suspects solicited prostitutes and those who offered to commit prostitution, and other suspects committed crimes related to prostitution, according to the sheriff.
Illegal Immigrants Arrested
Of the 157 arrested, 25 are in the United States illegally from Cuba, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Venezuela.
“Sixteen percent of these total arrests were people who should not even have been in this country,” Judd said. “But they were here. And they were here because we have a federal government that enabled these criminals to come into the country and then treated them very well after they came here illegally.”
Judd shared a story about a suspect who told authorities that she flew into Mexico from Venezuela and was “greeted” by the border patrol at El Paso, Texas. The sheriff played a video in which the woman described her experience learning about food assistance and being offered free travel, which allowed her to easily fly to Florida.
The sheriff further stated that illegal immigrants receive free services “compliments of the U.S. taxpayers,” while victims of the hurricane were still waiting for the government’s support.
“There is no border security at the southern border. Zero. It doesn’t exist,” Judd said.
Illegal immigration has been a major concern among voters in the 2024 presidential race.
The Epoch Times’ sister media outlet NTD reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment but did not receive a reply by publication time.
Suspects Also Traveled from Other States
A majority of the 157 people arrested came to Florida from nine other states.
“This is such a popular thing in Florida,” Judd told reporters during a news briefing. “You know, you come to Florida on vacation. A lot of people want to leave on probation.”
The youngest offender was 15 years old, while the oldest suspect was 61.
The Charges
Overall, the suspects were charged a total of 35 felonies and 201 misdemeanors during the investigation. This includes soliciting a prostitute and traveling to the undercover location to negotiate sexual acts in exchange for money.
In addition to the 157 arrests, three additional suspects were arrested for soliciting who they thought were children online. The trio was charged with traveling to meet a minor, attempted lewd and lascivious battery on a minor, and use of a computer to seduce a child. The sheriff said that one of those suspects is a Disney World employee, one is an illegal immigrant, and one is in the state for work.
Notably, among the 47 prostitutes who showed up to the undercover location offering to commit prostitution, four possible human trafficking victims were identified and offered services.
The operation was considered a success despite being cut short due to the hurricane.
“The approach of Hurricane Milton caused us to end our investigation earlier than planned, but it’s still amazing that in such a short amount of time we were able to put 157 people in jail, and three child predators,” Judd wrote in a statement.