BREAKING: PBSO human-trafficking probe makes second arrest – Palm Beach Post

RIVIERA BEACH

A 24-year-old Port St. Lucie man helped force women and teen girls to prostitute themselves and sell drugs out of a Riviera Beach home, authorities said in arresting him Thursday on a charge of human trafficking.

Ali Ameers arrest is the latest in an effort by local authorities to crack down on the crime, which some have called modern-day slavery. He would drive them in his silver BMW convertible to sell Xanax, oxycodone, Adderall and more, according to a probable-cause affidavit released Friday morning.

Ameer was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail after being taken into custody by Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office. It is the second arrest for human trafficking in recent weeks and the third by the sheriffs office since it announced a $1.5 million federal grant and partnership Catholic Charities in February to combat the crime.

Ameer faces one count of human trafficking for labor involving a juvenile. During Ameers initial appearance in court Friday morning, Judge Caroline Shepherd ordered he be held without bail. She also ordered he avoid contact with the victim and other minors.

Human trafficking occurs when a person uses force, fraud or coercion to control another for purpose of engaging commercial sex acts, labor or other services against their will. The Polaris Project a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that tracks calls to the national trafficking hotline reports that Florida had the third-highest number of reported cases in 2016, behind only California and Texas.

Between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016, there were 19 verified reports of human trafficking calls in Palm Beach County to the Florida Abuse Hotline, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Investigators last month arrested Andre Benjamin, alleging he used a 15-year-old girl to sell drugs. According to the arrest report, Ameer acted as Benjamins driver. The teen told investigators Ameer provided her with LSD to sell and, on one occasion, gave her marijuana when Benjamins supply ran out.

The sheriffs investigation focused on a home in the 400 block of Silver Beach Road, west of Broadway.

A woman who was not identified in the arrest report told investigators that Benjamin sold multiple women for sex at the home, including her. Ameer drove women to sell drugs and to have sex for money, the woman said. She said she witnessed Ameer having sex in the home and shooting up an unspecified drug on one occasion.

Ameer previously has been cited for traffic citations but had no prior criminal history in Palm Beach, Martin or St. Lucie counties, according to court records.

Since January, at least six people in Palm Beach County have been accused of labor or sex trafficking. In February, three men were arrested after authorities alleged they kidnapped a 19-year-old woman from a house in Boynton Beach and forced her to advertise her services for sex on the website Backpage.com.

One of the men allegedly told officers they had gone to the Boynton Beach home to pimp the woman out. The three suspects, Christopher Thomas, Jimmy Edmond and Jackson Poinvil, each waived his right to a speedy trial. Their cases are due for a status hearing in June.

The sheriffs office has also arrested a juvenile on a human trafficking charge. Authorities have not disclosed information about that case.

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BREAKING: PBSO human-trafficking probe makes second arrest - Palm Beach Post