The FBI announced that 33 Missing and/or Exploited children were rescued in California in a multi-agency effort. Operation Lost Angels was launched on Jan. 11 and in addition to the recoveries, resulted in the arrest of a suspected human trafficker on state charges.
During January—Human Trafficking Awareness Month—the FBI worked with the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and more than two dozen law enforcement and non-governmental partners to identify, locate, and recover missing children, particularly those who have been or were suspected of being sexually exploited and/or trafficked.
Of the 33 children recovered, eight were being sexually exploited at the time of recovery. Two were recovered multiple times during the operation while on the “track,” a common term used to describe a known location for commercial sex trafficking. It is not uncommon for victims who are rescued to return to commercial sex trafficking either voluntarily or by force, fraud, or coercion. This harmful cycle highlights the challenges victims face and those faced by law enforcement when attempting to keep victims from returning to an abusive situation. Victims may not self-identify as being trafficked or may not even realize they’re being trafficked.
There have been a string of high profile operations focused on missing and exploited children in the past year.
On Aug. 27, “Operation Not Forgotten” resulted in the discovery of 39 missing children in Georgia and Florida. Authorities said the children were between the ages of 3 to 17. Of the 39 endangered children, 15 were victims of sex trafficking.
In early September, Marshals declared that they had rescued eight “highly endangered” missing children in Indiana during “Operation Homecoming.” On Sept. 17, U.S. Marshals Service executed “Operation Triple Beam,” a 60-day mission to decrease violent gang crime in Oklahoma City. U.S. Marshals made 262 arrests, seized illegal firearms and narcotics, as well as located five missing children. Later in September, U.S. Marshals rescued 35 missing children during “Operation Safety Net” in Ohio.
In October, the Marshals Service announced they rescued 11 children in New Orleans, two of which were said to be in “extreme danger.” Later in the month the Marshals announced the recovery of 45 missing and endangered children in Ohio and West Virginia during “Operation Autumn Hope.” The operation led to 179 arrests that were made by the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force.
In November, the U.S. Marshals rescued 27 missing children in Virginia during “Operation Find Our Children.”
