Florida Launched Anti-Human Trafficking Team to Combat Border Crime

A new multi-agency human trafficking team has been created in Florida to target border-related crime. Following an operation that lasted several months, 10 victims were rescued and several suspected perpetrators were arrested.

Attorney General Ashley Moody announced Thursday the creation of a new strike team with law enforcement officials.

“Human trafficking is a challenge for every state,” AG Moody said, “because under this president we have absolutely no law enforcement on the southwest border. People… give money to transnational criminal organizations to bring them directly to this country; they then find themselves at the mercy of the same organization.

“Because we have our own government pushing as many people in as possible,” law enforcement “falls on the shoulders of these people who support me to make sure we save those who are being exploited” , she said. said.

The investigation began in October 2023 in Manatee County after the sheriff's office acted on a search warrant and passed information to Homeland Security Investigations and the Response Team, said FDLE Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell.

Investigators identified businesses that were business fronts for sex trafficking operations in Manatee and Hillsborough counties, where alleged ringleader Lina Payne recruited women from Colombia and allegedly held them hostage in Florida. She then allegedly forced them to have sex to repay their debt and brought them into the country under threat of violence.

“What we discovered was a fully functioning, highly organized international human trafficking operation” based in Hillsborough and Manatee counties, Brutnell said. Payne allegedly made frequent international trips to Latin American countries where the victims lived and were then trafficked across the border to Florida, he said.

Victims had no accessible transportation, had their identity documents confiscated, had their food delivered to them, were forced to live in massage parlors, hair salons and other businesses , from which they could not get out, he said.

Payne's alleged accomplices, her boyfriend, Sebastian Jurado, and her son, Andres Payne, were involved in recruiting women from Venezuela and Colombia who agreed to pay between $40,000 and $50,000 to smuggle across the border. southwest toward the United States, according to the investigation. Lina Payne allegedly promised them legitimate work, but once they arrived, they were held hostage.

At one point during the investigation, it emerged that Lina Payne was attempting to flee the country and was arrested at Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Shortly after, her boyfriend and son were arrested in Tampa. Another suspected trafficker is still on the run. Each defendant faces multiple criminal charges and is being prosecuted by AG Moody's Statewide Prosecution Office.

During the investigation, the response team rescued 10 victims. They also believe they have identified more than 117 victims of Payne's trafficking over the years.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said the victims “were brought here to Florida and had no idea of ​​the hell they were being dragged into.” We are talking about human lives. If someone was drowning, we were going to save them. They are people lost at sea, in hell, living in captivity. We will rescue them.

While saying he was happy that they had caught the traffickers, he said: “There are a lot of bad people who pay to have forced sex, rape, with these women.”

One way to break the cycle of sex trafficking was to strengthen criminal penalties “against people who purchase, compel sex with, and rape women.” Another solution is to create a civil penalty to make it easy for victims to “sue” their attackers, he added. “If we take away the livelihoods of people who buy and force sex on victims, if we take their homes, their cars,… that will set the tone. Like everything we do in Florida, we will keep people safe.

AG Moody said, “Biden’s border crisis is emboldening transnational criminal organizations and, as a result, we are seeing horrific cases of human trafficking right here in Florida. The disturbing facts of this case underscore the need for our new statewide response team and demonstrate how this expert team of investigators, prosecutors, analysts and victim advocates can help coordinate efforts to stop trafficking operations and rescue victims.

The new response team provides information, advice and support to law enforcement agencies across the state and also coordinates emergency assistance services for victims. The team works directly with Florida's new statewide human trafficking tip line, 855-FLA-SAFE.

He currently supports local law enforcement efforts in more than 20 human trafficking cases and makes contact with nearly 40 victims, including the 10 victims in this investigation, Moody said.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass, Col. Chris Rule of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Maj. Todd Shears of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, and Special Agent Tampa Homeland Security Investigations Officer John Condon also joined Moody in making the announcement.