A seven-day undercover operation across Polk County has ended with 281 arrests and 488 criminal charges, authorities announced, in what officials describe as a sweeping push against human trafficking and child predators. Among those taken into custody were workers from Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, a detail that quickly became a focal point of the sheriff's announcement.
According to FOX 13 Tampa Bay, the operation, dubbed Polk Around and Find Out II, produced 239 arrests tied to prostitution offenses, 31 arrests connected to suspected child-sex predators, and 11 other arrests, according to Daily Ridge. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd gave an update on the sting, which was led by the Polk County Sheriff's Office in coordination with other agencies.
A separate human-trafficking investigation tied to the broader effort captured 249 additional people, including 117 accused sex buyers and 122 individuals accused of prostitution, the station reported. Specialists identified 11 possible human-trafficking victims during the operation and offered them crisis resources, direct care and community services, per the same account.
Theme Park Ties and Firings
Seventeen suspects told detectives they work at local theme parks or resorts, including Disney World and Universal Studios, with seven of those accused of child-sex crimes, according to Tampa Free Press. Judd said Disney fired the workers arrested during the sweep, the station's report noted.
The reach of the operation extended far beyond Polk County's borders. Only 40 of the 281 suspects actually live in the county, with the rest traveling in from across Florida, 20 other states and 18 foreign countries, per the same account. Detectives also seized 24 firearms during the operation and filed drug-possession charges against 32 suspects.
Part of a Pattern of Escalating Stings
This is not Polk County's first large-scale sweep of its kind. The sheriff's office reported 266 arrests during a similar operation called Polk Around and Find Out in May, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, which logged 439 total charges that time, including 298 felonies and 141 misdemeanors. A seven-day operation in September 2025 resulted in 246 arrests, including 230 tied to soliciting prostitutes and 16 additional child-predator arrests, with 10 possible trafficking victims identified at that time, the sheriff's office said.
Sheriff Judd has said the goal of these recurring operations is to identify victims, offer them help, and arrest the people fueling the exploitation of human beings, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. The pattern echoes an earlier six-day sting known as Operation March Sadness 2, which led to 108 arrests and included four Disney employees, as reported by NBC News.
Statewide Enforcement Push
The Polk County arrests arrive amid a broader statewide crackdown. Florida's attorney general's office has reported more than 2,300 child predators arrested statewide since February 2025, FOX 13 Tampa Bay noted. The number of active human-trafficking cases handled by the state's Office of Statewide Prosecution rose 28 percent from 2024 to 2025, while the number of defendants in those cases climbed 22 percent, according to Florida's Office of the Attorney General.
The attorney general's office also reported 1,600 human-trafficking and exploitation-related arrests statewide from February 2025 to the present.
