I couldn’t get any more useful info on this particular sting, but here is what went on in a similar prior sting in neighboring Hillsborough County. It goes into what various people were actually charged with. While a couple were charged with trafficking, they just seemed to round up everyone and found something to charge them with to make it sound like a huge success.

according to the sheriff’s own data, 28 of the arrests were sex workers charged with prostitution. Sixty-three others were charged with soliciting, a first-degree misdemeanor that, for a first-time charge, can result in one year in jail or a fine of up to $1,000. Though many of the people charged with soliciting in Operation Trade Secrets II were first-time offenders, some have paid fines exceeding $4,000, according to court documents. Others were diverted to a “misdemeanor intervention program” and charged a $75 fee.

Only three people were arrested and charged with human trafficking, defined by Florida law as “transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, providing, enticing, maintaining, or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploitation of that person.”

Yadda yadda

Now, just two people out of the 104 arrested remain charged with human trafficking.

“The sheriff is on the news saying he is trying to stop human trafficking, but he’s picking up everybody,” said Anne, a 24-year-old sex worker arrested in the sting who spoke to The Appeal on the condition of anonymity. “Some of us live off this.”

(Source)

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