By admin 
Eight people have been arrested for prostitution and other charges in South Carolina following a multiagency investigation, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department announced Tuesday.
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The following individuals were arrested and charged, officials said, after an investigation conducted with the West Columbia Police Department, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Department of Homeland Security.
- Yoselyn Maybeli Colomo-Rodriguez, 33, was charged with prostitution
- Esmerelda Roblero Arreage, 32, was charged with prostitution
- Maria Jovita Ruiz-Peria, 26, was charged with prostitution
- Aurora Garcia-Mena, 27, was charged with prostitution
- Fernando Benitez-Perez, 38, was charged with prostitution and criminal conspiracy
- Romeo Jijon Altamirano, 47, was charged with prostitution and criminal conspiracy
- Cristian Fidel Gonzalez-Jijon, 22, was charged with prostitution and criminal conspiracy
- Cirenia Jijon Altamirano, 44, was charged with prostitution, criminal conspiracy and a crime related to harboring an unauthorized immigrant
Information from a separate case led investigators to locations on Edmund Highway and North Parsons Street, Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in a news release.
“The operation started Thursday morning when investigators searched multiple houses where prostitution was suspected,” Koon said.
According to a news release, a man at the respective houses would collect money from people in exchange for having sex with the women. The women would receive a share at end of the week.
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Two guns and more than $111,000 in cash as part of the operation, officials said.
“Without strong relationships between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, operations like this would not be possible,” Koon said. “These arrests are the result of us all working together to make our community safer.”
One of the people arrested, Arreage, was released after meeting the conditions of her bond. The others are being held in the Lexington County Detention Center.
The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department had warned the public of a “significant law enforcement presence” in West Columbia on Thursday, informing them of an operation in the area.
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