450 people arrested, 39 victims rescued during statewide anti-human trafficking operation: L.A. officials
KTLA Digital Staff
7 days ago
Authorities made hundreds of arrests and rescued dozens of adult and juvenile victims during an annual statewide operation to combat human trafficking, Los Angeles law enforcement agencies announced Thursday.
More than 100 federal, state and local agencies, and task forces participated in “Operation Reclaim and Rebuild” across California, between Jan. 26 and Feb. 1, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The statewide effort resulted in 450 people arrested, 51 of which were for an alleged felony crime. During the weeklong operation, 39 victims were rescued, including 13 children.
Those figures were announced during a joint news conference late Thursday morning involving LAPD, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, among others.
Officials emphasized that the number of arrests and rescues during the operation represent just a fraction of the total made during the year.
“There are still operations that take place 365 days out of the year as well,” L.A. sheriff’s Capt. Michael Hannemann said.
The captain recounted several cases from the most recent operation.
There was one from Jan. 26, when a missing 15-year-old girl from Nevada was rescued after investigators with the San Luis Obispo County’s counter-human trafficking answered an online sex advertisement and arranged a meetup. Authorities were also able to apprehend her suspected trafficker following a brief pursuit, according to Hannemann.
That same day, LAPD vice officers rescued three young female individuals after seeing them “engaging in possible commercial sex activity” near 76th and Figueroa streets, in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood of South Los Angeles, the captain said.
A vehicle approached them and the three drove away. A traffic stop was conducted on the vehicle and officers detained three males and the three females, two of whom were underage, according to Hannemann. Investigators determined that one of the men had been trafficking the females, leading to his arrest.
And on Jan. 28, investigators with the Sacramento and Elk Grove police departments were working on an operation focusing on child molesters and trafficking when they discovered a sex ad involving a 21-year-old. The woman was known from a previous case to have been developmentally disabled, Hannemann said.
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