JACKSON, Miss.- Doon Alway, special agent in charge of the FBI in the state of Mississippi stands with local law enforcement to discuss recent crackdowns on child sex trafficking in the state.
The effort is called Operation Cross Country and it is a nationwide program focusing on victims of child sex trafficking. Last week over a 48-hour departments involved went to the streets of Jackson, Ridgeland, Canton, and Warren County. During the first few hours of the operation they found two seventeen-year-olds.
One of the girls was at a Ridgeland motel and an undercover police officer saw her ad that was posted online. The other young lady was a runaway who was in Hinds County and was picked up by Clinton Police and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.
There were 22 others arrested during the two day period. Those individuals faced charges ranging from soliciting prostitution, child endangerment, to possession of a firearm and marijuana.
These organizations are monitoring places like truck stops, casinos, street “tracks,” hotels and Internet websites based on information collected by officers in their jurisdictions.
Their strategy involves using multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams to investigate and prosecute crimes that cross geographical and jurisdictional boundaries; promoting and enhancing inter agency sharing of intelligence, specialized skills, and services; and widely offering our victim witness services.
The goal of these agencies is to protect what they believe is the nations greatest, the children.
