11 child victims recovered in North Texas during sex trafficking operation

DALLAS - Authorities arrested 11 people and were able to recover 11 child victims in North Texas during an operation that targeted sex traffickers.

Operation Independence Day took place in July, and “targeted sex traffickers and focused on the recovery of child victims.”

FBI’s Dallas field office was among more than 400 agencies that took part in the FBI-led operation. A number of local agencies also assisted.

There were nine child victims of sex traffickers recovered, and four others who were identified across the Metroplex. Two child labor trafficking victims in North Texas were also recovered as part of the operation.

A child who has been recovered has been removed “from ongoing, continued victimization,” while a victim who has been identified “is one who may not currently be in a sex trafficking situation, but one who has been victimized in the past or whose prior victimization is unknown, or someone who is being trafficked, but is afraid to disclose that information to law enforcement.”

The Dallas Police Department, the Fort Worth Police Department, and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission were able to recover child victims, and Dallas PD’s High Risk Victims and Trafficking Squad, supported by both the Vice and Narcotics Units, took part in most of the recoveries in North Texas.

In total, more than 100 children were recovered and dozens of arrests were made across the country as part of this operation.