Officials have rescued 170 victims, including 14 children, during a statewide human trafficking crackdown in California led by the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said “Operation Reclaim and Rebuild,” held during the last week of January, involved more than 80 local, state and federal agencies.
Officials reported 611 total arrests statewide, including 71 suspected traffickers and 328 suspected sex buyers, and said 170 victims were rescued—156 adults and 14 children, the youngest aged 13.
Why It Matters
According to the Department of Homeland Security, citing United Nations’ International Labour Organization figures, human traffickers victimize an estimated 27.6 million people worldwide. Around 77 percent are in forced labor, while 23 percent are in the sex industry. The department said that while no reliable estimate exists for the United States, human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states…