Two Guatemalan individuals who entered the country illegally are facing charges related to human trafficking. Police discovered two women at a house in Lake Worth Beach that was being used as a brothel.
Yudvin and Glin Zunigalatin have been arrested for various offenses including human trafficking, making money from prostitution, operating a location for illegal activities, and resisting arrest. Glin Zunigalatin is also accused of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sexual assault.
Law enforcement was alerted to the situation when a young woman called for help at approximately 7:45 a.m. on Feb. 9. She claimed she was being held against her will at the residence belonging to the suspects, as stated by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in an official statement.
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.
A preliminary investigation revealed that both victims were recruited under false pretenses and forced to perform sex acts.
Deputies observed two males exhibiting “suspicious behavior” outside a residence located on the 1400 block of Lake Ave, Lake Worth Beach. (Google Maps)
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.
