A Bronx man was charged for his role in an international human trafficking ring that brought women from foreign countries and other parts of the U.S. to Long Island over about three years, officials said.
Erick Acevedo, 36, was arrested Wednesday morning on charges of promoting prostitution and conspiracy, Suffolk County police said in a news release.
Acevedo is accused of transporting women from abroad and elsewhere in the U.S. to area hotels to engage in sex acts with clients and then collecting money from them, officials said.
The sex workers were brought in from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, New York state, Florida “and possibly other states,” police said.
An investigation into Acevedo’s alleged participation in the scheme began three years ago. Officers with the Suffolk County Police Department’s Second Precinct Investigative Unit were surveilling the Rodeway Inn hotel on West Jericho Turnpike in Huntington Station when they noticed women whom “they believed might be victims of human trafficking.”
Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies — including the New York Police Department, the FBI and investigators from the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office — joined the yearslong investigation that eventually led to his apprehension.
Acevedo was arrested on Cedar Avenue in the Bronx around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, officials said. He was issued a desk appearance ticket and is expected to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip at a later date.
Anyone with information about the case, including those who think they may have been a victim of the scheme, is urged to call the department’s Human Trafficking Unit at 631-854-7512 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers of Suffolk County online or by calling 1-800-220-TIPS.
