Florida pair accused of smuggling Cuban women into US, forcing them into prostitution in Miami, officials say

A man and woman are facing charges after police said they smuggled Cuban women into the United States then forced them into prostitution in Miami-Dade.

Vicenta Polanco, 30, and Luis Ariel Escalante, 24, were arrested Tuesday on human trafficking and prostitution charges, Miami-Dade jail records showed.

The charges stem from the accounts of two women who said they had been forced to prostitute themselves at the direction of Polanco and Escalante, police said.

According to arrest reports, one victim said Polanco and Escalante visited her in Cuba and offered to pay to smuggle her across the border, telling her they'd pay her to be an exotic dancer at an adult entertainment club.

When she arrived in the U.S., they told her that instead of exotic dancing, she'd be working as a prostitute, and took provocative photos of her to post on prostitution websites, the reports said.

The second victim was assisted by Polanco and Escalante with entering the U.S. illegally and also promised work as an exotic dancer but after about a week she was told she'd also be doing prostitution work, the reports said.

Both women were asked to hand over their Cuban passports and other legal documents, and were told they'd be assisted with legal representation for the immigration process, the reports said.

In actuality, the passports and documents were taken as collateral to force the women to prostitute themselves, the reports said.

Both women said they were expected to work seven days a week, seeing four to five customers per day. Escalante collected the money from the customers, the reports said.

The victims performed prostitution from an apartment where they were allowed to live, or Polanco or Escalante would drive them to "dates," the reports said.

On Monday, both victims demanded their documents back, but Polanco refused and told them they needed to pay off their debt of $10,000 to $12,000, the reports said.

The women contacted police, who arrested Polanco and Escalante and booked them into jail.

Police searched Polanco and Escalante's apartment and found $9,000 cash, eight mobile phones, three laptops, and two iPads, the reports said.

In court Wednesday, Polanco and Escalante were appointed public defenders and ordered held without bond.