Tampa Escorts: Dozens targeted in St. Pete drug, prostitution sting

August 21, 2010

Dozens targeted in St. Pete drug, prostitution sting

After months of complaints from residents who say prostitutes and drug dealers are doing business along the U.S. Highway 19 corridor of Lealman, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office detectives swarmed the St. Petersburg neighborhood Friday making arrests.

Around 6 p.m., detectives assigned to the Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit began rounding up suspected prostitutes and street level drug dealers. As of 9 p.m., deputies had arrested about half of the people they sought, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

Prostitution, drug use and crime go together, said Lt. Kent Viera.
“If you need to pay a drug habit, you commit burglaries, you commit robberies and then you get violent crimes with them. A lot of these girls that are doing prostitution are beaten up by some of the characters they hang around with,” he said.

See the full article from “Tbo.com”



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