ORLANDO, Fla. — Central Florida draws more than 75 million travelers each year, but law enforcement leaders say that steady flow of visitors also makes the region a target for human trafficking.
Now, new efforts are underway to stop it, with tourism and hospitality leaders learning how to recognize the warning signs.
A 2024 USF report estimates more than 700,000 Floridians have been victims of human trafficking, forced into labor or commercial sex. Training programs are now focusing on industries considered most at risk.
At a recent meeting of the Doctor Phillips Rotary Club, community leaders gathered to learn how to identify a crime that often operates out of sight.
“The whole world comes to us. And unfortunately, sometimes these bad actors come,” said Tomas Lares, president and CEO of United Abolitionists, a non profit dedicated to fighting human trafficking.
Tourism, agriculture and hospitality are key drivers of Florida’s economy, but advocates like Lares say they also create opportunities for traffickers. Florida ranks behind only California and Texas in the number of human trafficking hotline calls received.
Kim Figueroa, a survivor and law enforcement consultant, said traffickers often follow large events and high-traffic destinations.
“I was trafficked all across the United States. So anything that brought in large amounts of money for events, conventions, the list goes on and on. He moved us from city to city, state to state to chase this money,” Figueroa said.
Figueroa said she was trafficked and exploited for 13 years, starting as a minor in the foster care system and continuing into adulthood, when she was forced into commercial sex.
“I was sold like a piece of meat, like a product. I was no longer a human,” she said.
She said in 2012 she was severely beaten, hospitalized for not meeting a quota and left for dead. Now, she is sharing her story publicly and helping train workers at Orlando International Airport.The airport is hosting monthly sessions open to all airport staff.
Advocates say that training is critical because an estimated 70% of victims pass through an airport at some point.
Airport employees are being taught how to recognize red flags and when to intervene.
“I wouldn’t speak for myself. I didn’t have my own cashflow. I didn’t have my documentation,” Figueroa said.
Lares said workers are trained to ask simple questions, especially when minors are traveling or passengers have one-way tickets.
“When are you coming back? What school do you go to? You know, some of those questions you can start asking because it’s a red flag,” he said.
If a potential victim is identified, Lares explained they can be taken to a safe room at Orlando International Airport, where service providers and law enforcement can step in.
“If you have even one sign out of the hundreds of signs we can think of, just call us,” said Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Detective Eliel Mangual.
In Osceola County, detectives worked 32 trafficking cases in 2024. About a quarter involved minors, but most were labor trafficking cases, often in hotels and restaurants.
“They’ll bring these foreign domestic workers with the expectation that they’re going to come to work and receive fair wage and in reality they get here and they have this trafficker who is going to force them to work an incredible amount of hours with sometimes no pay,” Mangual said.
Mangual said investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases can be difficult.
“It is difficult. It’s very difficult,” he said. “these victims become so reliant on this trafficker that whenever we take action, they actually become, some of them become very uncooperative.”
That dependence can make it harder for the state to prosecute traffickers. While Florida Clerk of Courts data shows progress, with the number of prosecutions for human trafficking trending upwards, investigators say more work remains.
“Obviously, as law enforcement, we show up after something’s already happened. We’re trying to correct that. We want to show up before something happens,” Mangual said.
Advocates say public awareness is key, that includes understanding the warning signs and reporting suspicious activity.
At the conclusion of every training session hosted by United Abolitionists, attendees receive an advocate badge with a QR code linking to resources and Florida’s human trafficking tip line that number is 1-855-FLA-SAFE.
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