TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- The Collier County Sheriff's Office became the first agency in the state to make arrests under a DNA database collection law that went into effect in July, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The new law requires law enforcement to collect DNA samples from anyone booked into a Florida jail on an immigration detainer, according to the FDLE.
Two DNA samples in Collier County matched sexual battery cold cases, officials said.
Martin Rodriguez Rios, 37, was charged with sexual battery in connection with a 2014 cold case from a DNA match on Jan. 8, the FDLE said. Francisco Figueroa, 43, was charged with sexual battery in a 2022 cold case from a match on Jan. 10.
The DNA samples were sent to labs in Fort Myers and Tampa that led to a match, the FDLE said.
Both men were taken to the Collier County Jail.