Polk County sheriff’s officials said Friday that a multi-day undercover operation in Winter Haven led to 266 arrests, including 247 people charged in prostitution- and human-trafficking-related offenses and 19 accused child sexual predators. The joint-agency sweep, called “Polk Around and Find Out,” also identified seven possible human trafficking victims, officials said.
Sheriff Grady Judd said 127 suspects who traveled to commit prostitution were screened by detectives and social services organizations during the operation, and 108 of those arrests involved people who came to the undercover location to negotiate sex in exchange for money. Two suspects brought children with them and were charged with child neglect, while 12 others were arrested for aiding, abetting, transporting or deriving proceeds from prostitutes. Four people brought firearms to the undercover operations, Judd said, warning that the work was not low-level or nonviolent.
The operation was announced Friday morning in Winter Haven, Florida, after several days of undercover work by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies. Of the 247 human-trafficking-related arrests, 34 suspects were in the country illegally, coming from 10 different countries, and 22 suspects were receiving public assistance totaling $15,188 a month collectively. ICE took part for the third time with the sheriff’s office, and Kelly Walker said the agency encountered 70 foreign-born nationals during the operation.
The broad sweep shows how the county’s trafficking investigations now reach far beyond one charge or one target. Walker said some of those encountered had significant criminal histories and would be taken into ICE custody after prosecution, then placed before an immigration judge. Judd also said one suspect was arrested for offering to commit prostitution, then was arrested again after allegedly advertising her services after being released on bond.
The case now moves from the undercover phase to prosecutions, immigration proceedings and follow-up investigations on the seven possible victims identified by detectives and social services workers. For the people arrested Friday, the sheriff’s office made clear the operation was intended to reach not only prostitution charges, but the wider network around them.
