PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Human trafficking victims are being branded and sold for sex in the Tampa Bay area, the I-Team found.
Those working with victims told I-Team Investigator Kylie McGivern those permanent markings can often remain with trafficking victims even after they are rescued.
“It’s like branding cattle,” said Cpl. Alan Wilkett, who leads Pasco County’s human trafficking task force. “It’s an ownership mark. Branding is when somebody — a pimp or a trafficker — will put his mark or his symbol or his sign on his victims through some sort of tattoo.”
Wilkett said deputies know how to spot the red flags of someone being sold for sex.
“Some of the things we’re seeing are pictures — maybe a lion’s head or it may be the street name of the pimp who’s running a street track,” said Wilkett. “It could be numbers. Using certain numbers, like 16 because ‘P’ is the 16th letter of the alphabet — it means I’m being pimped.”
