157 people arrested in raid against human trafficking ring

A large-scale human trafficking operation in Polk County, Florida, resulted in the arrest of 157 suspects, including 25 illegal immigrants and three Disney employees. As part of the operation, police officers also rescued four potential human trafficking victims.

In a news release Thursday announcing the results of “Operation Autumn Sweep,” the Polk County Sheriff’s Office wrote: “During a five-day undercover human trafficking operation that began on October 2, 2024, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Unit .” arrested 157 suspects involved in illegal activities related to the recruitment of prostitutes, the offer of prostitution or the facilitation of prostitutes. Three other suspects were arrested because they were traveling to sexually abuse young people.”

During a news conference Thursday, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters that 47 of the suspects were prostitutes, 96 of the suspects were customers, one suspect was a human trafficker and 14 suspects had various charges pending. Judd said the youngest customer is 15 and the oldest customer is 61.

In the news release, the sheriff’s office said law enforcement officials charged the suspects with 35 felonies and 201 misdemeanors during the course of the investigation. The sheriff’s office also found that the suspects’ criminal records totaled 455 misdemeanors and 327 felonies.

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During Thursday’s press conference, Judd said 25 of the suspects were illegal immigrants from several different countries. He added: “16 percent of those total arrests were people who shouldn’t even have been in this country, but they were here, and they were here because we have a federal government that allowed these criminals to come into the country and then to be treated. “They are doing very well after the criminals came here illegally.”

Fox 13 reported that two of the potential human trafficking victims were illegal immigrants who were forced to perform 20 sexual “tricks” every day to get back at the person who smuggled them into the United States. Judd added that if the two victims refused to comply, their trafficker would choke and beat them.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said that of the 157 suspects arrested in the recent sting operation, 26 said they were married while others said they were engaged. According to the sheriff’s office, three of the suspects were Disney World employees.

During Thursday’s press conference, Judd noted, “What would our undercover operations – where we deal with human trafficking, prostitution and child abuse – be without Disney? “We always arrest Disney employees.”