Two men were driving two boys into slavery in Central and South Florida, cops say
A traffic stop about an hour east of the Florida-Alabama border Wednesday led to two men facing human trafficking charges, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said.
Sitting in Santa Rosa County jail, each with a bond of $1.1 million, are 39-year-old Frank Moreno of Odessa, Texas, and 21-year-old Jackson Perez-Godinez of Guatemala. Each faces two counts of engaging in human trafficking for labor or servitude on a child under 18 years old and smuggling an illegal individual into the state.
When a Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped Moreno on Interstate 10 to discuss a moving violation, FDLE said, the deputy spotted signs of human trafficking. Eventually, FDLE agents were called in and the agency says the deputies and agents discovered two Guatemalan boys who had been smuggled into the country through Mexico.
“Investigators believe the boys were trafficked into the United States for forced labor,” FDLE said. “According to the victims, their families each paid more than $1,000 to be smuggled into America. Each teen was told they had to work to pay off additional travel debt. Agents believe the men were taking the boys to different cities in Central and South Florida.”
This story was originally published January 1, 2021 at 3:42 PM.
