Police arrested 35 people and seized more than $500,000 in narcotics in a six-month operation targeting hotels, the latest regional effort aimed at curbing human and drug trafficking. Anne Arundel County police said detectives working on the initiative, called Operation Safe Stay, also educated hotel and motel management on how to recognize illegal activity and work with police.
The investigation lasted from June 1 through Nov. 30, police said Thursday. During that time, police conducted 12 prostitution and human-trafficking operations at 14 hotels and motels in the county.
Operation Safe Stay is only the most recent local initiative to reduce human trafficking, which authorities have said is a growing problem in the region.
Montgomery County police said last month that its officers have infiltrated escort Web sites. And five Maryland men were recently charged in federal court with running a multistate prostitution ring.
The 35 adults arrested in the Anne Arundel operation face charges that include drug possession and distribution, human trafficking and prostitution.
Most are from Maryland, but some are from as far away as Arizona and California.
Police said officers seized more than 2,600 grams of marijuana with a street value of $53,029, 210 grams of heroin worth $53,700, 1,730 grams of methamphetamine worth $432,500, and 31 grams of crack cocaine worth $3,180.
The total street value of the drugs was $542,438.10, police said.
Officers also seized one handgun, four vehicles and $2,314 in cash.
The operation also helped women and children forced into sex work to escape, through collaborations with the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force and the FBI.
The number of people who were able to escape prostitution through the initiative was not available.
County police say they have continued trying to curb sex work at hotels since the operation ended.
This week, police said they busted a prostitution operation at a hotel near Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Hotel management filed a complaint with police about prostitution on Tuesday. Police said investigators found that two female prostitutes were working on several floors of the hotel and had posted listings on the classified-advertisement Web site baltimorebackpage.com.
Two women and one man were arrested, police said.
