3 arrested in alleged prostitution ring that trafficked women from Colombia to Miami brothels
MIAMI - Two men and a woman were hit with racketeering, money laundering and prostitution charges after allegedly running brothels out of several Miami-Dade County homes.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office said it arrested the leaders of a human trafficking ring from Colombia to Miami. Officials said multiple homes in Miami Gardens were established as brothels, and the money sent back to the South American country.
Elibeth Tovar, Yasdid Ortiz and Omar Jaimes were charged with racketeering, money laundering of more than $100,000 and support of prostitution.
The boss? A woman.
The ring leader, according to the Miami-Dade state attorney, is 40-year-old Tovar, who faces an additional charge of human trafficking for allegedly operating six in-home brothels.
One victim, a woman from Colombia, was sold a "dream" by Tovar of new opportunity in Miami with a job at an elevator company, said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.
"Instead she put her to work in a warehouse brothel down south," Rundle explained.
That elevator company belongs to co-defendant Yasdid Ortiz. His attorney argued in bond court he's a well-known businessman.
"He has open contracts with the Miami-Dade County, with the TSA, with Miami airport for elevator. He's one of the most successful elevator cab companies in South Florida," Ortiz's attorney said in court.
But that elevator business was storage for some brothel profits, according to the state attorney.
"Ortiz was actually keeping some of the proceeds from these brothels in his elevator business safe," Rundle said.
The third man in custody, Omar Jaimes, is an ex-Colombian police officer and the father of Tovar's child, according to the state attorney.
"The primary overseer of the day-to-day operations of the brothels and he provided the security for them," Rundle added.
CBS News Miami asked the state attorney if she has looked into the elevator company and the contracts throughout Miami-Dade County. She said they will be working with county partners and look into the relationship between the business and the contracts.
