New Florida Anti-Human Trafficking Team Cracks Down on Border Crime | Florida

(The Center Square) – A new multi-agency human trafficking enforcement team has been created in Florida to target border-related crime. Following an operation which lasted several months, ten victims were savedAnd several suspected perpetrators were arrested.

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

“Human trafficking is a challenge for every state,” said AG Moody, “because under this president we have absolutely no law enforcement on the southwest border. People are … giving 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 The government pushing as many people in as possible,” enforcing the law “falls on those people standing behind me to make sure we save these people.” which are we benefit from it,” she said.

THE the investigation began in October 2023 in Manatee County after the sheriff's office implemented a search warrant and forwarded information to Homeland Security Investigations and the Response Teamsaid 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. Then she 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 the Latin American countries where the victims lived and were subsequently trafficked across the Florida border, he said.

Victims did not have accessible transportation, their identity documents were taken two, their food was delivered for them, theywere forced live in massage parlors, hair salons And other businesses, where they couldn't 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 be smuggled across the border southwest toward the United States, according to the investigation. Lina Payne allegedly promised them legitimate work, but once they arrived, they took place hostage.

At one point during the investigation, it emerged that Lina Payne was attempting to flee the country and has been arrested at Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Shortly after, her boyfriend and his son have been arrested in Tampa. Another suspected trafficker is still on the run. Each accused faces several criminal charges and is wanted by AG Moody's Office of Criminal Prosecutions.

During the investigation, the response team rescued ten 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.” what hell they were being brought In. We are talking about human lives. If someone was drowned, we went out and saved 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 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 is to create a civil penalty to allow victims “to easily pursue » their attackers, he said. “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 highlight the need for our new statewide strike. 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 strike team provides intelligence, advice and support to law enforcement agencies across the state and is also coordinate 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 ten victims of this investigation, Moody said.

Also joining Moody by making the announcement were Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass, Col. Chris Rule of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Major Todd Shears of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office and John Condon, Special Agent in Charge of Investigations on Tampa Homeland Security.