(SNews) – Federal law enforcement officials have just announced that 200 victims, including 59 missing children, have been rescued during a massive, nationwide sex trafficking bust.
“Operation Cross Country” has resulted in the arrest of 194 sex trafficking suspects, officials confirmed.
Those arrested include 126 suspects of child sex trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Another 68 suspects were charged with other human trafficking offenses.
Over the two-week operation in July, the FBI and its partners identified 59 minor victims of child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation offenses.
They also located and rescued 59 actively missing children.
“Sex traffickers exploit and endanger some of the most vulnerable members of our society and cause their victims unimaginable harm,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Garland applauded the significant efforts of the FBI and its partners in locating actively missing children and arresting those accountable for such heinous crimes.
“This operation, which located 59 actively missing children, builds on the tremendous work the FBI has undertaken over many years to rescue minor victims and arrest those responsible for these unspeakable crimes,” Garland added.
“We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners across the country to prevent human trafficking; increase detection, investigation, and prosecution of human trafficking crimes; and expand support and services to protect and empower survivors.”
The nationwide initiative was led by the FBI in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
The operation primarily focused on identifying and locating victims of sex trafficking and investigating and apprehending those involved in child sex and human trafficking.
“Human traffickers prey on the most vulnerable members of our society, and their crimes scar victims – many of them children – for life,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“The FBI’s commitment to combatting this threat will never waver, and we will continue to send our message that these atrocities will not be tolerated.
“This operation would not be possible without the commitment and collaboration from our state and local law enforcement partners, and it demonstrates our continued focus on actively pursuing the criminals responsible for these heinous violations and connecting those impacted with dedicated victim services and resources,” he added.
The news comes as the corporate media has been desperately trying to downplay the issue of sex trafficking in recent weeks.
The huge success of the anti-child sex trafficking movie “Sound of Freedom” has triggered widespread smear attacks from media outlets.
According to mainstream media, child sex trafficking is just a QAnon conspiracy for “dads with brainworms.”
But I was reliably informed by the media that child sex trafficking is a QAnon conspiracy… https://t.co/1lYHpTdbB2 pic.twitter.com/aDuWfbJjMd
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 2, 2023
slaynews.com/news/nationwide-sex-trafficking-operation-rescues-200-victims-59-children-194-suspects-arrested/
