Department Of Justice Arrests 1,700 People For Human Trafficking
A sickness has been happening for quite some time and people are fed up with it. Many people have been kidnapped and used as sex slaves and/or have been tortured. Now, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is cracking down on the multi-billion dollar business of human trafficking in the United States.
“Operation Broken Heart” was the code name used for this nation-wide human trafficking sweep. There have been many arrests and others targeted for this abuse to others. Nobody should ever be put through such things. It is downright evil.
“As the perception of sexual exploitation of children continues to move from windowless vans in back alleys to Dark Web sites on the Internet, the investigation and prosecution of these vile crimes must continue to evolve,” said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
Other statements were made regarding these atrocities,“We are determined, with our law enforcement partners, to find these criminals wherever they try to hide and protect the innocent from victimization.”
The operation was first initiated back during April and May, by the Internet Crimes Against Children task forces. The end result was successful to some degree but there are more undiscovered offenders out there.
There were 308 offenders identified and arrested and another 357 child victims found. From what is understood, 1,700 suspects will likely be arrested and that number may grow.
There were more than 18,500 different complaints of crimes against children. These children were specifically targeted by these criminals. The same task force, presented internet safety presentations to over 201,000 youth and adults nationwide according to the Department of Justice.
Human trafficking crimes, defined in Title 18, Chapter 77 of federal law, involve “the act of compelling or coercing a person’s labor, services, or commercial sex acts,” according to the DOJ’s website.
“The coercion can be subtle or overt, physical or psychological, but it must be used to coerce a victim into performing labor, services, or commercial sex acts.”
The following 10 states have the highest reported human trafficking incidents: California, Texas, Florida, Ohio, New York, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.
There were 800 human trafficking cases were reported in California. In Texas, 433 cases were reported, with the majority of victims being foreign nationals.
Out of the 329 reported cases of human trafficking in Florida, 215 cases involved sex trafficking; 120 victims were minors and 277 victims were female.
According to the national hotline, HumanTraffickingHotline.org, there were 4,460 reported cases of human trafficking in 2017 from the calls the hotline received.
Clearly bad things are happening and the citizens need to help the efforts of the police and the DOJ. If anyone sees anything unusual, contact the following number: 1-888-373-7888
(Source: The Center Square)
