A whopping 228 arrests were made by a Florida sheriff's office during an 8-day human trafficking operation targeting prostitution, officials said.
The arrests were made during what the Polk County Sheriff's Office dubbed "Operation March Sadness 2024."
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference Tuesday to announce the results of the undercover operation, which began on Feb. 22 and targeted suspects involved in soliciting prostitutes, offering to commit prostitution or aiding and abetting prostitutes.
Judd said 150 suspects were arrested for soliciting a prostitute and traveling to the undercover location to negotiate having sex in exchange for money. Twelve other suspects were arrested, and of those, 8 were either deriving proceeds from prostitution or transporting prostitutes to the undercover location.
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Detectives charged a total of 70 felonies and 288 misdemeanors during the investigation. The suspects' criminal histories included a combined total of 879 felonies and 1,150 misdemeanors.
During the operation, 13 possible human trafficking victims were identified of the 66 prostitutes who were arrested, Judd said.
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"This is a new record number of arrests during an investigation of this kind," Judd said.
Of the suspects arrested, 44 brought illegal drugs to the location, and detectives seized fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, MDMA, hydrocodone, Xanax, methamphetamine, and marijuana.
Another 15 brought firearms and 17 total firearms were seized.
Eleven of the suspects told detectives they receive government assistance, and 21 are suspected of being in the country illegally, Judd said.
Two of the suspects, a pair of brothers who are 16 and 17, arrived at the location armed with a BB gun and wearing hoodies and ski masks, and were seen creeping around the location as if they were about to rob the undercover detective who was posing as a prostitute, Judd said.
During these types of undercover investigations, I can truly say that we have 'seen it all' and yet we are still surprised by some of the violent acts we encounter. These two teenagers were incredibly lucky that they did not brandish a firearm while stalking who they thought was a prostitute, at a location filled with law enforcement officers. This could have ended very badly for them," Judd said. "This should also illustrate just how dangerous it is to agree to have sex with someone in exchange for money."
