Two Guatemalan illegal immigrants are accused of human trafficking after police found two women at a residence in Lake Worth Beach that was “actively being used as a brothel,” according to authorities.
Yudvin and Glin Zunigalatin are charged with human trafficking, deriving proceeds from prostitution, holding a house of ill fame and resisting, according to county records. Glin Zunigalatin is also charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sexual battery.
Authorities initially responded to the suspects’ residence after they received a phone call around 7:45 a.m. on Feb. 9 from a young woman who reported being held against her will, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
The caller “stated she was sexually assaulted, she was at a club and that someone was going to kill her and she doesn’t want to die,” an arrest warrant states.
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The woman was unaware of her exact location but said she had been confined in a house for multiple days by two men, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies were able to trace the call to a densely populated area and searching for signs of unusual activity. Eventually, they observed two males exhibiting “suspicious behavior” outside a residence located on the 1400 block of Lake Ave, Lake Worth Beach. Police said in the arrest warrant that the residence was “actively being used as a brothel” and was part of a “larger brothel case.”
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When deputies made contact with the two men, they “appeared nervous.”
“A third unknown male was complying with lawful order and was asked to step outside. Once he went outside he took off running and disappeared,” the arrest warrant states.
Authorities were able to “visually confirm the presence of a female inside the residence” and made entry into the home. They rescued two victims of a “potential human trafficking operation” and arrested Yudvin and Glin Zunigalatin.
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A preliminary investigation revealed that both victims were recruited under false pretenses and forced to perform sex acts.
The first victim told authorities that the brothers approached her at Miami International Airport and offered her a job making scam calls that would pay $200 per day. She apparently took them up on the offer, and they drove from the airport to the Lake Worth Beach home, where she was shown to her room and confined there for days. She alleged the brothers told her she could leave if she wanted, but she “would be hunted down and hurt,” which she interpreted as killed.
The second victim told police that the suspects promised her a job cleaning houses in West Palm Beach. On what was supposed to be her first day of work, one of the suspects picked her up in his vehicle and drove her to the Lake Worth Beach residence, where he and another man made clear that she would instead be forced into prostitution.
At one point, she said she overheard two men arguing outside her room with another victim, and one of the men said, “I will fill you with bullets,” the arrest report states.
The suspects are being held on no bond, and authorities placed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers on both men.
