This Thursday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Florida announced that an operation against human trafficking had been successful and resulted in the arrest of more than a hundred people, including a teacher, a basketball coach, a nurse and a spiritual leader.
In honor of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, Hillsborough County authorities revealed that Operation Renewed Hope led to the arrest of 123 people on charges related to human trafficking.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said detectives had to act as if they were providers of children available for sexual activities and participate in online chat rooms posing as minors available for sex, among other tactics, to capture the suspects.
"[The arrests] represent our commitment to protect the innocent and a persistent effort to safeguard the most vulnerable members of our community," said Chronister, revealing that they managed to rescue 28 victims during the operation. "That is 28 people whose lives were saved thanks to the hard work and dedication of the men and women on this team," he emphasized.
Chronister also highlighted that since the anti-human trafficking team was created, 604 people have already been arrested and 36 have been charged with crimes related to human trafficking. "They know what they are doing is wrong," he said, recounting that some of those arrested often try to hide their phones before encounters with minors to prevent their wives from discovering them.
In September of last year, the Polk County, Florida, Sheriff's Office also revealed that an undercover human trafficking operation was conducted that led to the arrest of more than 200 people, including a teacher, an athletic director and several Disney employees.
