A man and woman are behind bars after police said they traveled to Miami-Dade County with a young female to solicit sex clients.
Police arrested 21-year-old Jayla Welch and 32-year-old Xavier Latrell Smith on January 6 in an area in Northwest Miami-Dade County known for commercial sex trafficking.
According to investigators, approximately two months ago a female subject was working and recruiting young girls for sex work in Dallas, Texas, when she met the 17-year-old victim. The female subject’s boyfriend facilitated and arranged meetings with potential customers for commercial sex.
Detectives received a tip from law enforcement partners at the Federal Bureau of Investigation that both subjects and the victim may be in Miami-Dade County involved in sex trafficking.
After conducting surveillance in the Northwest Miami-Dade area, police said that Smith was seen exiting the Budget Inn motel located at 8929 NW 27 Avenue in Miami. Smith and Welch were detained and taken into custody at the motel.
Throughout the investigation, it was revealed by the trio that during their road trip to Miami, they stopped in several cities to meet with clients who paid for dates and sex with the victim. These clients requested services through the male subject’s phone number which was posted on several online commercial sex sites.
During their one week stay in Miami, the victim claimed to have made upward of $10,000 on sexual dates, which she shared with the subjects.
Both subjects were charged accordingly, transported, and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.