FBI's David Gelios
As part of a nationwide crackdown on human trafficking involving underage prostitution, the FBI and Michigan State Police announced Tuesday that they had "recovered" 19 girls, as young as 12, and arrested 12 pimps in Metro Detroit as part of a sting.
The "takedown" was part of Operation Cross Country IX, an annual nationwide, anti-human trafficking effort that took place last week. In all, authorities nationwide recovered 149 sexually exploited children and arrested more than 150 pimps and other individual, the FBI said in a press release.
The FBI locally said the Detroit operation was among the most successful in the nationwide crackdown.
“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, " David P. Gelios, head of the Detroit FBI, said in a statement. "This is all part of an ongoing effort to continue to free victims of human trafficking, and arrest the individuals that commit these crimes."
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