A Polk County, Florida, human trafficking operation earlier this month led to the arrests of 219 people, including people in the country illegally, a high school teacher, and three Disney employees, according to authorities.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd on Thursday announced the results of the operation, saying out of 119 prostitutes who were arrested during the operation that began last week, 21 were possible victims of human trafficking.
Two suspects were charged with human trafficking, and both were in the U.S. illegally.
Freddy Escalona, 30, and Maria Guzman, 36, were charged with human trafficking and deriving proceeds from prostitution.
Escalona, police said, lent money to a victim to fix her vehicle, and after she was unable to pay him back, he allegedly forced her into prostitution.
When Escalona drove the victim to the undercover location, he was taken into custody and told detectives he had “several females that he worked,” or who paid him to transport them and keep them safe, Judd said.
Guzman also allegedly trafficked two victims from a hotel in Orlando, setting up their “dates” and profiting from the money they made.