The FBI arrested a total of 169 people during an 11-day operation targeting human traffickers who flooded Atlanta with sex workers ahead of the Super Bowl.
From Jan. 23 through Feb. 2, a coalition of federal, state, and local law enforcement busted 26 people they said were trafficking the forced sex workers. The FBI said it also arrested 34 people who tried to have sex with minors.
The FBI arrested 94 people in a similar operation in Minneapolis during last year’s game.
“[T]he operation’s goal was to raise awareness about sex trafficking by proactively addressing that threat during the Super Bowl and events leading up to the Super Bowl,” the FBI said in a statement. “Sex trafficking is not just a problem during large scale events, it is a 365-day-a-year problem in communities all across the country.”
Nine of the victims recovered by authorities were ages 14 to 17. Nine adult victims were also rescued.
The FBI credited its partners in the Department of Homeland Security, Atlanta police, state of Georgia, prosecutors’ offices and anti-trafficking organizations for helping make the operation possible. Two dozen government entities and seven private ones were involved.
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