Some civilians assisted law enforcement officers in central Alabama during an anti-human trafficking operation that led to the arrests of multiple suspects, local authorities announced.
The multi-agency “Operation Trafficking Halt” occurred between Oct. 22-25 in Jefferson and Shelby Counties and resulted in the arrests of 34 suspects, the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force (SCDETF) announced Nov. 8. The investigators also identified and provided help and resources to numerous victims during the operation.
The SCDETF led the operation, with help from the Department of Homeland Security and numerous other federal and local law enforcement partners, according to the statement.
The operation revealed “multi-state and overseas coordination networks that facilitate human trafficking,” the SCDETF said. (RELATED: REPORT: 10-Year-Long Investigation Leads To Massive Sex Trafficking Bust At Nine Businesses)
“We will do everything in our power to identify and assist the victims of human trafficking,” said SCDETF Commander Lieutenant Clayton Smith. “We will also work just as hard to put those who want to prey on these victims in prison and held accountable for these horrible crimes.”
Smith also thanked “all of our law enforcement partners, victim advocate groups, and civilian support staff who assisted in this successful operation.”
Investigations into the networks are by nature confidential and the agents were also concerned about the safety of the victims, therefore the SCDETF said it would not give further information at this time.
Alabama identified 57 human trafficking cases involving 134 victims in 2023, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH).
California has had the largest number of human trafficking victims (11,254) between 2019 and 2023, followed by Texas (7,369) and Florida (6,904), according to Joslyn Law Firm.
The number of reported human trafficking incidents nationwide between 2013 and 2022 stood at over 8,700, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said July 30. The incidence tally has been rising steadily since 2013, the FBI added.
Some 9,619 human trafficking cases involving 16,999 victims were identified nationwide in 2023, according to the NHTH. “The use of the word case is not an indication of law enforcement involvement in the situation,” the NHTH added.
The number of human trafficking suspects prosecuted within the 2011–2021 decade more than doubled from 729 to 1,672, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. Some 1,657 human trafficking convicts reportedly were serving their sentences in state prison by the end of 2021.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
