San Diego's FBI field office participated recently in a nationwide sex-trafficking crackdown that located hundreds of victims of sex trafficking and netted hundreds of arrests.
In San Diego, Operation Cross Country XIII resulted in four arrests and interventions on behalf of more than a dozen victims, including two minors, the federal agency announced Tuesday.
The two-week multi-agency enforcement effort focused on identifying and locating victims, arresting individuals and disrupting underworld organizations involved in human trafficking and sex crimes that exploit children, according to FBI public affairs.
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During the operation, the FBI, along with the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and various state and local law-enforcement agencies, carried out targeted investigations, officials said.
Nationwide, 59 children who had been reported as missing were located, officials said.
The 15 local victims located during the operation were referred for support services, according to the FBI's San Diego Field Office.
The operation included an outreach event during which members of the task force engaged with local leaders and law enforcement agencies to bring more awareness to human trafficking and provide training on how to recognize signs of the crimes in their communities.
Among the agencies that took part in the effort were the California Department of Justice; Child Welfare Services; Homeland Security Investigations; Internal Revenue Service; National City Police Department; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; Riverside Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; San Diego County District Attorney's Office; San Diego County Sheriff's Department; San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; San Diego Police Department; and U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California.
