FBI, police rescue 52 children in series of prostitution raids

October 27, 2009|Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The FBI said yesterday that it had rescued 52 children in a series of raids across the country aimed at underage prostitution.

The youngest victim was just 10 years old, authorities said. The bureau and local police officials also arrested 60 pimps during the three-day enforcement effort in 36 cities.

The raids are the latest in a long-running effort, Operation Cross Country, aimed at child prostitution rings around the country. Almost 1,600 agents and officers took part in the raids, which led to federal and state charges against a total of 691 suspects.

The investigations typically target places where minors are likely to be sold for sex, including truck stops, casinos, public streets, and Internet websites.

The FBI used a similar array of cross-country raids last week to crack down on drug traffickers.

Federal agents swept through Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, and dozens of other locations Wednesday and Thursday, arresting more than 300 people and seizing drugs, weapons, and money in what officials called the biggest US crackdown against a Mexican drug cartel.

The drug raids, which followed a three-year federal investigation, targeted the US operations of La Familia Michoacana, one of Mexico’s largest cartels, authorities said.

The investigation involved hundreds of agents and analysts from the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as prosecutors and other officials from the Justice Department, the FBI said.