Law enforcement officers arrested three Orlando Weekly managers this afternoon on charges of aiding and abetting in prostitution.
The Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation arrested the three employees from the newspaper’s advertising department at a job fair sponsored by the Weekly.
Officers then served notice to the Weekly‘s offices on racketeering charges. MBI director Bill Lutz said that the newspaper’s ads were contributing to the prostitution problem in Orlando. "We did send them letters and that worked at the time, but this time they told us to go pound sand," Lutz said, explaining why the arrests were made.
The unusual round of arrests raises questions whether MBI will take on internationally known Web site Craigslist. MBI recently wrote a letter to the CEO of Craigslist requesting the Internet site remove all of its prostitution ads dealing with Orlando. Craigslist has not yet replied.