The Los Angeles Police Department teamed up with the L.A. County Sheriff Department’s Regional Human Trafficking Task Force and over 100 other law enforcement agencies and victim advocacy groups to conduct “Operation Reclaim & Rebuild,” a weeklong sting into human trafficking across California.
According to an LAPD media release, the operation – conducted between Jan. 26 and Feb. 1 –primarily focused on rescuing victims of sexual slavery and human trafficking, apprehending their captors and disrupting the demand for vulnerable individuals.
As a result of “Operation Reclaim & Rebuild,” 547 suspects were arrested across California on various criminal charges, LAPD stated, 333 of them described as “exploiters.”
A total of 166 adults were identified as trafficking victims, with a further 11 minors rescued from possible exploiters, bringing the total number of recovered victims to 177. All of them were offered support services; the minors were placed in protective custody and are receiving support from the Department of Children and Family Services.
“Through [investigators’] diligent efforts, vulnerable victims were rescued from further abuse, and victims who had been silenced by these atrocious crimes found their voices restored,” LAPD officials said in the media release. “Justice was served during the operation, as numerous suspects, who sought to prey on our young, were apprehended and brought to face the consequences of their actions.”
Anyone with information on crimes related to human trafficking should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or visit their website: www.lacrimestoppers.org
You can also report information surrounding human trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline by calling 1-888-373-7888, texting 233733 or going to the NHTH website.
