ELMHURST — Nine men were busted for soliciting prostitution after they were caught in a sting on Roosevelt Avenue, which is considered the "epicenter" of the city's sex trafficking industry, police said.
An undercover officer from the 110th Precinct went out June 26 at 11 p.m. dressed as a prostitute in an initiative called Prost-OP, according to police.
She hung around Roosevelt Avenue in Corona and Elmhurst, police said, and stayed out until 3 a.m., arresting nine potential Johns.
All of the men were charged with soliciting prostitution, which is a misdemeanor.
Last summer, Roosevelt Avenue was called the "epicenter" of the city's sex trafficking industry by State Senator Jose Peralta, who created an initiative to help foreign-born victims with free legal representation.
“Roosevelt Avenue is a mecca of human trafficking in Queens and throughout the five boroughs,” Peralta said.
The women are often brought from all over the world by gangs, he later told DNAinfo.
“They bring them right to Roosevelt Avenue,” the state senator said. “It’s really a hub and epicenter of human trafficking.”
An official with the 110th Precinct said the undercover stings are conducted every month once the weather gets warm, and they average around nine arrests each time.
