JACSKONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Federal investigators say nine people have been indicted in a human trafficking and prostitution operation in multiple states.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Christopher Canova says the defendants were arrested Thursday and were all in the U.S. illegally.
Canova says the group transported and harbored females for prostitution in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
After a 15-month investigation, federal agents say they found evidence the defendants operated a wide-ranging prostitution operation that included luring customers from other areas.
Arrested were Edegardo Rodriguez and Rosa Mirtha Cruz Vidal of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida; Antonio Flores-Esparza of Pensacola, Florida; Jose Trujillo-Santiz of Panama City Beach, Florida, Jose Prudencio and Emerson Corvera of Montgomery, Alabama; Mauro Gonzalez-Lira and Romon Tobon of Mississippi and Lazaro Juarez-Juarez of Atlanta, Georgia.
