Everett Part Of FBI Sex Trafficking Operation

October 17, 2016

Everett, Police Blotter

FBI

Two pimps were arrested by the task force in Everett.

FBI

8 exploited adults were also contacted in Everett.

Last week agents of the FBI along with agencies belonging to a special Child Exploitation Task Force were in Everett conducting a sting operation to identify and recover victims of prostitution. It was part of an annual international operation known as “Operation Cross Country”.

Everett was just one of of a dozen locations in Washington State where undercover operations took place. Ayn Dietrich with the Seattle FBI office tells MyEverettNews.com via email: In Everett, no juveniles recovered, two pimps arrested, and eight exploited adults were contacted.

Here’s more information about the operation from the FBI…

This past week, three Child Exploitation Task Forces (CETFs) in Washington State, along with other local partners, recovered five juveniles and contacted 67 adults being exploited through prostitution. Some of the adults had been forced into prostitution as juveniles. The local operations were part of Operation Cross Country X (OCC10).

In Washington State, the CETFs arrested 14 subjects suspected of commercially exploiting children and/or adults, and related crimes. Interviews with subjects and adults engaged in prostitution provided significant leads toward identifying other juveniles that are being exploited through prostitution. The CETFs recovered drugs and several vehicles during the operations.

Operations took place October 13-15, 2016. Operations occurred in Airway Heights, Bellevue, Everett, Kent, Lakewood, Pasco, Spokane, Tukwila, and throughout King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties. Victims and the pimps travel throughout eastern and western Washington to work and do not necessarily reside in the area where they were located this week.

The multi-agency CETFs, working with additional partnering agencies, made contact with young women involved in prostitution through the use of undercover agents and detectives and by canvassing areas where street prostitution is known to occur.

All the victims were offered referrals to and information on a variety of services within the community, such as job training, housing, counseling, and medical and education assistance. Immediate medical and safety needs were addressed.

FBI

Arrests were made across America as well as internationally last week.

This is the 10th iteration of the FBI-led initiative that took place across the United States and, for the first time, also took place in several countries around the world. Law enforcement partners from Cambodia, Canada, the Philippines, and Thailand held operations in their respective countries.

The FBI Seattle Division works with law enforcement partners on three dedicated Child CETFs in Washington State, based in Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma. The North-Central Sound CETF is a partnership between the FBI, the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO), the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bellevue, Everett, Kent, Mt. Vernon, Port of Seattle, SeaTac, Seattle, and Tukwila police departments.


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