HOLLYWOOD, FL – The Broward Sheriff’s Office Organized Crime Unit, in conjunction with detectives from the Hollywood Police Department, arrested a Miami woman on Thursday for operating four massage parlors in Broward County as fronts for prostitution. Investigators arrested Maricela Ramirez at her Miami residence on charges of deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution, money laundering and the use of a two-way device to facilitate a felony. The investigation revealed that Ramirez utilized females in her massage parlors to solicit sex for money.
BSO’s human trafficking detectives and special agents with Homeland Security Investigations are also investigating the case. The case began in 2019 when detectives with the Hollywood Police Department began investigating allegations of prostitution activity at Luna Azul Spa in their city. Detectives from that department are attached to BSO’s Organized Crime Unit.
On Thursday, detectives served search warrants at Ramirez’s home and at her four businesses in Broward County (G-Spa in Pembroke Park, Luna Azul Spa in Hollywood, Tan Spa in Hollywood and Innovative Spa in Pompano Beach). Following her arrest, Ramirez was booked into a jail in Miami-Dade. It is expected that she will be brought to Broward County to face the charges. January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
Human trafficking is the act of forcing or coercing men, women and/or children into labor that results in involuntary servitude, exploitation, debt bondage or slavery, is a felony and needs to be stopped. If you suspect human trafficking in your community, BSO encourages you to contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888, text “HELP” or “INFO” to 233733 or call the BSO non-emergency number at 954-764-4357 (HELP).To learn more about what human trafficking is, please visit the National Human Trafficking Hotline page at https://humantraffickinghotline.org/. For more information on human trafficking, listen to THIS episode of the Shop Talk with the Sheriff podcast featuring Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony’s conversation with Jumorrow Johnson, Human Trafficking Coordinator, Office of the State Attorney, 17th Judicial Circuit.