LEXINGTON, S.C. – Lexington County deputies, along with officers from the West Columbia Police Department, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division – SLED and the Department of Homeland Security arrested eight people Thursday after a drug and prostitution investigation.

The following individuals were arrested and charged, according to arrest warrants:

• -Yoselyn Maybeli Colomo-Rodriguez, 33, has been charged with prostitution.
• -Esmerelda Roblero Arreage, 32, has been charged with prostitution.
• -Maria Jovita Ruiz-Peria, 26, has been charged with prostitution.
• -Aurora Garcia-Mena, 27, has been charged with prostitution.
• -Fernando Benitez-Perez, 38, has been charged with prostitution and criminal conspiracy.
• -Romeo Jijon Altamirano, 47, has been charged with prostitution and criminal conspiracy.
• -Cristian Fidel Gonzalez-Jijon, 22, has been charged with prostitution and criminal conspiracy.
• -Cirenia Jijon Altamirano, 44, has been charged with prostitution, criminal conspiracy and harboring an unauthorized alien.

“Details from a separate case led investigators to locations on Edmund Highway and North Parsons Street,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “The operation started Thursday morning when investigators searched multiple houses where prostitution was suspected.”

Koon said a man at the houses would collect money from people responding to have sex with the women. The women would receive a share at end of the week.

Deputies seized two guns and more than $111,000 in cash as part of the operation, according to Koon.

“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.”

Arreage has been released after meeting the conditions of her bond. The other suspects are being held in the Lexington County Detention Center.