TAMPA, Fla. – A pair of sex trafficking suspects were taken into custody in Tampa in a case that originated with people fleeing Cuba, according to authorities.
The perpetrators were identified as Amet Ramon Maqueira de la Cal and Rosalia Leonard Garcia. They face charges that include include human trafficking and false imprisonment, Fox News Digital reported.
Law enforcement officials said several women between the ages of 18 and 24 were forced into stripping and prostitution. The female victims were corralled in two small rooms and were only allowed out to perform sex work. Deputies rescued them from their circumstances at a mall in Tampa.
“They were forced to work in various adult entertainment clubs in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties and never allowed to leave the home without an escort,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister announced during a Monday press conference.
The pair of criminal defendants were reportedly part of a conspiracy that enriched itself by charging each woman $60,000 to be transported out of Cuba, across the southern border and into the U.S.
The captors controlling the victim’s movements threatened to harm the women and their families if they did not comply and engage as sex workers to repay their debt, deputies said.
The law enforcement agency received information from the public, which led the human trafficking unit to the unlawful servitude operation, Chronister noted.
Using video surveillance, the investigative team determined that seven of the women would be taken last Thursday by one of the suspects to International Plaza in Tampa for supplies. Upon arrival everyone was detained and deputies were led to the eighth female victim and the second accused captor.
FILE PHOTO – Two people were arrested in Tampa, Florida, in connection with a human trafficking operation that began in Cuba, according to officials. (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office has been assigned the case. She referred to the operation as “one of the worst trafficking cases” she has seen.
Moody noted the current U.S. border policy facilitates this kind of criminal enterprise as it allows people and drugs to be smuggled across the southern border uninhibited, Fox News Digital reported.
“These horrific sex acts of sex trafficking are a direct result of the crisis we are experiencing at the border,” she said during the press conference at the sheriff’s office.
The women have undergone medical care and are housed in a safe location, the sheriff said.
Federal authorities will determine whether the women will be deported to Cuba or allowed to remain in the U.S., according to Chronister.
