19 Kids Rescued, 12 Pimps Arrested in Metro Detroit Sting

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In what authorities are calling one of the most successful sex trafficking stings in the country, 19 children were rescued and 12 suspected pimps were arrested in a sting that swept through Metro Detroit.

The national collaboration between the FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, state and local law enforcement, known as Operation Cross Country IX, targeted “criminal enterprises responsible for the commercial sex trafficking of children,” according to a news release.

Participating agencies included the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, Michigan State Police, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and local police departments.

“Our office is pleased with the success of the operation in metro Detroit, but we, along with all of our law enforcement partners, do not stop here,” FBI Detroit Division Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios said. “This is all part of an ongoing effort to continue to free victims of human trafficking, and arrest the individuals that commit these crimes.”

Local police departments in Detroit, Dearborn, Livonia, Roseville and Romulus assisted, as did sheriff’s offices in Wayne, Macomb, Washtenaw, Kent and Ottawa counties.

A companion federal sex trafficking sting is ongoing as part of Operation Cross Country, now in its ninth year. Raids were also conducted in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Knoxville, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New Orleasn, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego and Seattle.

Nationally, more than 149 underage trafficking victims were recovered and 150 suspected pimps were arrested, the FBI said.

The youngest victim rescued was 12, three were transgender and three were males.

Operation Cross Country is part of the FBI’s Innocence Lost national initiative, which began in 2003. Since the program began, more than 4,800 children have been recovered from underage prostitution, and prosecutors have obtained more than 2,000 convictions, including at least 15 that have resulted in life sentences.

» Photo via Flickr