413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

The other thing we do have is in the beach, certain clubs on Miami Beach with Eastern
European clientele, and there are women being sent in there from the escort services or
whatever, they are going in there specifically for the purpose of picking up dates for
prostitution. Now whether that’s organized or not, we haven’t had one of those because
that’s a word of mouth situation unless you get an informant telling you who’s doing what
… I think there’s something to it but we haven’t gotten into it yet. Unless you get
somebody who is in that circle, in that club, who knows how it’s working. But I’m sure
even with some of the juveniles that we’re getting, they are also hitting the clubs on
Miami Beach. They just go from club to club looking for dates. Usually their pimp is close
by. Sorta kinda doing the street walking mode, except that they’re going inside the club
and trying to come out with a date. (Miami Law Enforcement Official)
Since law enforcement has yet to investigate a case involving clubs facilitating sex trafficking and/or
prostitution, law enforcement was unaware of how much money is exchanged in these establishments.
Street
Street-based prostitution and sex trafficking in Miami has changed significantly over the past five years
from primarily involving US citizen minors to currently involving drug-addicted, US citizens. Constant
over this time period is that the street is the venue that offers commercial sex activities for the lowest
prices, which could be as low as $15 for a sex act. Law enforcement surmised that this change was a result
of the Internet, as well as a possible deterrent effect of law enforcement investigations:
[Street-based prostitution has] probably the lowest prices. We’re not really seeing as
many street walkers, the girls are going inside to the strip clubs and massage parlors and
the Internet because I think they’re getting more money inside and the police aren’t as
prevalent on the inside of those places. Five years ago, we used to have mostly minors
working the tracks, which really doesn’t happen as much anymore. It’s changing, the cycle
and trend is changing. Once we see something, we’ll start hitting it really hard, and then
they’ll change the way they’re doing things. (Miami Law Enforcement Official)
This law enforcement official continued to say that most of the minors they now see are pimp-controlled
and are advertised online via the Internet.
Network Characteristics
Miami was reported to be “on a circuit” with major cities including Atlanta, New York, Dallas, Houston,
Las Vegas, Orlando, Jacksonville, Seattle, and cities in California. Miami prosecutors successfully
prosecuted Latino brothel cases that involved Mexican national offenders and victims that crossed
multiple jurisdictions—beginning in Mexico and then through Texas, Georgia, Florida, and New York.
As reported above, the networks of those operating massage parlors, escort services, and beach clubs are
thought to be transnational, involving Chinese and Eastern European organized crime, respectively.
However, these networks have proven more difficult to uncover due to resource constraints. As a result,
less is known about their network characteristics.
Law enforcement reported less of a link between sex trafficking and prostitution and child pornography,
but did state that in cases where a trafficker or pimp has pictures of a minor advertised on the Internet or
in their possession, they have historically been charging them with child pornography offenses.
Gang involvement in sex trafficking as part of gang initiations was reported by law enforcement in Miami
as a more recent and increasing trend. When asked whether sex trafficking by gangs was particular to any
one gang, law enforcement reported, “Historically, the Bloods. Any big gang will typically get in if there’s a
lot of money to be made. It’s a lesser charge for them.” As a potential sign of growing gang involvement in
sex trafficking in Miami, law enforcement reported an open investigation into another gang involved in
both drug trafficking and sex trafficking in a nearby county.
The link between the underground commercial sex economy and drugs and weapons trafficking was
reportedly tenuous. Law enforcement reported that many current pimps/traffickers were former drug
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