Sheriff reveals 26 illegal migrants not on federal 'radar' among 255 arrested in Florida sex-trafficking sting
A multi-level operation, aptly named "Fool Around and Find Out," nabbed 255 suspected human traffickers, child sex predators and illegal migrants in Central Florida.
The Polk County, Florida, operation, conducted over nine days in May, resulted in the arrest of the highest number of individuals ever recorded in a single sting by the sheriff's office.
Sheriff Grady Judd told Fox News Digital that the operation was a coordinated effort with multiple law enforcement partners, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which was embedded for the first time with the Central Florida department.
"We made a lot of arrests. Our team preps in advance. We know what places to go on social media to find those evil people or to set up for them to come to us, so they did a remarkable job."
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One of the most startling revelations from the operation was 36 illegal migrants apprehended. Judd said 26 of them had not checked in with federal authorities, making them untraceable until this operation.
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"Twenty-six of them were not even on the federal government's radar," he said. "They had snuck in the country and did not check in."
The migrants arrested account for approximately 15% of the total, and Judd argued that their absence could have prevented that same amount of crime.
"If those illegal immigrants weren't here in this country, then there would have been 15% less crime committed," he said.
WATCH: Former NFL player arrested in Florida human trafficking bust
The operation also revealed a cross-section of suspects from all walks of American life.
Among those arrested were a medical doctor, an executive from the American Red Cross, active and retired military personnel, and even a former NFL player, Adarius Taylor. Prior to retirement in 2020, Taylor played for the Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cleveland Browns.
Judd recounted that the ex-NFL player left his young, medically vulnerable child alone in a car while he allegedly sought sexual favors from an undercover officer posing as a prostitute.
Another suspect allegedly visited the operation while his wife was battling cancer at home.
"Are you kidding me?" Judd exclaimed. "Your wife is being treated for cancer. And at a time in her life where she needs you the most, you're turning out a trick with a hooker at an undercover location? That is incredible. There were all kinds of occasions, just like that."
Detectives charged a total of 102 felonies and 284 misdemeanors during the investigation. The suspects' prior criminal histories included a combined total of 400 felonies and 519 misdemeanors, with charges such as premeditated murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated battery and sexual assault.
"The online prostitution industry enables traffickers and allows for the continued victimization of those who are being trafficked," Judd said in a release following the sting. "Our goal is to identify victims, offer them help, and arrest those who are fueling the exploitation of human beings (Johns) and those profiting from the exploitation of human beings. Prostitution is not a victimless crime – it results in exploitation, disease, drug and alcohol addiction, violence, and broken families."
Florida Man Impersonates Ice Agent, Threatens To Deport 2 Men, Police Say
Judd said Polk County has a zero-tolerance stance on criminal activity.
"This is not the last one. This is just the last one. There's going to be another one, and another one and another one."
Judd's message is clear: those who come to Florida with criminal intent will not remain in the shadows and will be publicly held accountable.
"Florida is the vacation state. People come from all around the world with their children," he said. "We want to make sure that it's a safe environment, and it is."
"If you think you're gonna sneak here and, 'Hey, what goes on in Florida stays in Florida', that's wrong," he said. " I'll put you on blast all across the nation, and that's a guarantee."Original article source: Sheriff reveals 26 illegal migrants not on federal 'radar' among 255 arrested in Florida sex-trafficking sting
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You would start with the absolute non-negotiables for the public and work from there. But Reform's manifesto cannot be purely determined by opinion research. Farage entirely defines Reform and he has a clear ideological history as a Right-wing Thatcherite. Reform cannot therefore just say whatever voters want to hear. As we saw this week, the nature of Reform's coalition makes policy design hard. Their immigration policies only need refinement and defensive lines, mainly to reassure voters that NHS and care workers will still be able to move to Britain. The same is true of their policies on crime and justice, which pledge a shift of policing towards serious offences and an expansion of prison capacity. Three things should inform their approach to the rest of their manifesto. Firstly, they should ramp up those micro-policies that they know the public care about deeply, but which tend to be written off by other parties as parochial. For example, Reform could pledge to make driving 'like it used to be'. Filling in potholes is already a Reform priority. They could also scrap most 20mph zones and reduce the number of cycle lanes and low-traffic neighbourhoods. Elsewhere, they could scrap demands for people to have multiple bins. They could force public-facing public bodies like HMRC or the DVLA to start taking phone calls again properly. They could elaborate on their pledges to cut government waste – which appear to be a crucial element of their financial plans – and force all public sector bodies to conduct and publish reviews into the management of their services. These sorts of small-time policies attract derision from commentators but they are exactly the sorts of things that voters bring up unprompted in focus groups. Critically, they would carry no ideological baggage and irritate neither Left- nor Right-leaning voters. They would also provide simple talking points for Reform candidates on the door step. Secondly, and the mess of their policy package this week confirms a need for this, Reform should study the Conservative Party manifesto of 2019 and unashamedly rip off a series of policies from this document – particularly on those areas where a huge amount of technical knowledge is required, which Reform cannot easily access having never been in Government. On education, the Tories said they would back Ofsted inspections, expand the free schools and academy programme and increase the number of 'alternative provision' institutions for those excluded from schools. On transport, the Tories said they would invest in railways in the Midlands and North of England, re-open lines that had been closed in the past, and expand contactless payments across the transport network. On the workforce, the Tories committed to training up hundreds of thousands more apprentices and creating a National Skills Fund to enable individuals and small businesses to undertake skills training. Reform should adapt and market these policies as their own. There is no point Reform re-inventing the wheel on a lot of areas, when the hard work has been done already. Thirdly, Reform should say they are going to trust the experts. The party is already committed to a Royal Commission to look at the future of social care. Reform should take the same approach to the wider NHS and commit to a serious review – led by clinicians – on the future of the NHS, while promising that it will always be free at the point of use and held in public hands. Voters will not care that there have been other recent reviews; Reform's review can make a virtue of being led by those that deliver the services on the ground. The NHS is the area where Reform are most vulnerable. In the past, Farage has said that Britain should move to an insurance-based system. Given the US has an insurance-based system, it is easy to see why opposition politicians suggest the NHS is not safe in Reform hands. If the NHS is Reform's greatest vulnerability, their greatest choice comes on the economy. Here, their best bet is to embrace the free market in its purest form. This means, for example, bolstering consumer rights against big businesses, encouraging the creation of new businesses by cutting taxes on small firms and their founders, and easing planning restrictions for businesses. This is serious free-market economics, but for ordinary voters. While the public have little sympathy for big businesses, even their working-class base loves small businesses and holds respect for entrepreneurs and the self-employed. No party has yet articulated an economic policy primarily through the prism of these sorts of risk-takers, preferring to talk about abstract macro-economics. Reform should do things differently. Whether Reform can form a government or not, nobody should be under any doubt that voters are in the mood to tear things up. Those people that suggest the British electorate somehow turned in a different direction to Right-moving voters in the US and Europe are not listening. The public did not vote for technocratic competence under Starmer; they voted to guarantee idiotic Tories got the boot. For the foreseeable future, rage will determine British politics. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
