More than 30 missing children rescued in Texas human trafficking crackdown

Federal and local authorities saved more than 30 children are missing It revealed multiple smuggling operations targeting vulnerable youth during a coordinated crackdown across Texas.

These efforts, centered in San Antonio, led to arrests, criminal warrants and several new investigations under a joint mission known as “Operation Lightning Bug.”

Squads from the United States Marshals Service (USMS) from San Antonio, Del Rio, Midland, and Pecos joined their forces With the San Antonio Police Department Missing Persons Unit, Special Victims Unit, Street Crimes Unit and Undercover Agents. Together, they combed national crime databases in Texas to identify at-risk juveniles and coordinate recovery efforts.

More than 30 children were rescued in the San Antonio area. (Ring Images/Global Image Collection via Getty Images)

Sex scams against teenage boys after coronavirus, says observer

Results included:

• Three people were arrested on charges of harboring fugitives
• Execution of nine felony warrants
• Six survivors of sex trafficking were rescued and connected to support services
• Five new trafficking investigations were opened
• More than 30 missing young men were found
• More than 120 additional juveniles returned home voluntarily, and their names were erased from missing persons databases.

Each recovered child was interviewed by SAPD’s Special Victims Unit to determine whether or not they had been victimized. Survivors were referred to support services provided by agencies such as Health and Human Services to ensure long-term care and protection.

US Marshal Susan Pamerleau, for the Western District of Texas, He said in a statement The protection of children remains central to the mission of the Marshals Service.

“The safety of our children is the safety of our communities, and justice demands that we protect those who cannot protect themselves,” Pamerleau said. “Through Operation Lightning Bug, we are reaffirming our promise to protect the most vulnerable and enhance the safety of our communities.”

The US Marshals Service and local law enforcement authorities are cracking down on human trafficking. (U.S. Marshals Service, Benny J. Davis III)

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus echoed those sentiments, praising the effort as an example of law enforcement unity.

“Every suspect has been arrested, the juveniles have returned home, and the survivors have been removed from harm’s way,” McManus said. “This operation demonstrates what can be achieved when law enforcement agencies come together to protect children.”

U.S. Marshals conducted the sweep under the authority of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, which enables the agency to recover missing or endangered children, even when there is no fugitive from justice. This law also led to the creation of the USMS Missing Children Unit, which leads similar recovery efforts nationwide.

Four accused in Texas of smuggling children across the border while posing as parents

The US Marshals Service said protecting children remains central to its mission. (US Marshals Service)

Operations like this underscore the larger issue of exploitation in Texas and beyond, said Kirsta Liberge Melton, founder and CEO of the Anti-Human Trafficking Institute.

“Trafficking is a thing City of San Antonio “The state of Texas and the nation have been grappling for a long period of time,” she said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

She said human traffickers often target the unstable, that is, children who do not have housing, food or stable family support.

“These are easy recovery operations for traffickers to exploit,” she warned. “They exploit those needs by providing those items and then demanding debts and putting these children in a position where they can be exploited for sex or labor.”

Youngkin credits the Trump administration with strengthening anti-human trafficking efforts

The public often underestimates how to do this, Liberge-Melton said Trafficking is widespread – And the extent of its development, especially via the Internet.

“Trafficking is the exploitation of men, women and children for forced sex or forced labor by a third party for their own profit or gain. This has existed forever,” Lieberg-Melton said. “What wasn’t really there was people’s understanding of that crime and their knowledge that it happens everywhere!”

She added that traffickers are increasingly using technology to recruit and control victims.

“As technology advances, human traffickers have become early adopters and adapters of technology,” she said. “The Internet allows them to connect with victims and buyers outside their local area.”

Rising immigrant sex crimes in major US city linked to Biden’s open borders and Mexico a ‘safe haven’: former judge

Kirsta Lieberg-Milton said traffickers were increasingly using technology to prey on victims. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutson)

Liberge-Milton emphasized that human trafficking is not limited to border areas.

“American citizens can traffic American citizens on American soil,” she said, adding that most trafficking cases prosecuted in the United States involve American perpetrators exploiting American victims.

“The biggest myth is that this is happening somewhere else, and it’s happening to someone else,” she said. “Until we begin to realize that people have value, no matter who they are, where they come from, what they have done or what has happened to them, we will continue to tolerate some level of exploitation.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Lieberg-Melton also described sextortion as a growing form of trafficking that uses coercion to coerce sexual behavior or images.

“When you have someone, you hold something over their head and then you ask them for additional pictures or additional sexual behavior with threats… that’s frankly a form of human trafficking,” she said.

If you suspect someone is a victim of trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or report anonymously at humantraffickinghotline.org.

Stephenie Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and immigrant crimes. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.