After a three-week operation in West Texas, 70 children were rescued after remaining missing, as part of the “Operation Lost Souls”, informed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) through a statement.
The investigation was carried out by the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), developing from the end of from April to mid-May in the Texas cities of El Paso, Ector and Midland, reported ABC 7.
According to an ICE statement, the missing children, many of them identified as runaways, were between 10 and 17 years. Some of the minors found were victims of sex trafficking, physical and sexual abuse.
Although most of the children were found in West Texas, some were also identified by the authorities in the area of Dallas Fort-Worth. Also in Colorado and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, I add ICE.
“At the Department of Public Safety, teamwork is one of our core values,” said the DPS Major , Matthew Full. “We are grateful for all of our law enforcement partners who participated in this operation and who work day and night every day to protect our communities, including our youth.”
As part of “Operation Lost Souls”, the agencies also provided services to the victims, as well as counseling to the rescued children and their families.
The special agent attached to head of the HSI in El Paso, Texas, Taetuk Cho, said in a statement that the federal office is focused on locating missing children and enforcing the law by arresting those who commit these types of crimes.
“Operation Lost Souls” exemplifies Homeland Security investigations’ commitment to protecting the public from crime victimization. In this case, we are taking care of our children, the most precious memory of our community“Cho said, in statements compiled by KVVU-TV.7888
“HSI is committed to continuing to work with our law enforcement partners to locate, recover, and help heal missing children, while ensuring that perpetrators are responsible for these heinous crimes and are brought to justice,” he added.
The authorities set up the national human trafficking hotline at (888) 373-7888 in case any citizen has information about a victim of human trafficking, or any type of criminal activity.