DeliverFund, a Dallas-based nonprofit intelligence organization that leverages cutting-edge technology in the fight against human trafficking in the United States and abroad, announced that it provided support to California’s seventh annual anti-human trafficking enforcement operation that involved simultaneous human trafficking operations among local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force-led effort resulted in 413 arrests, with 30 suspected traffickers and exploiters arrested and 72 victims recovered, 7 of whom were minors.
Also Read: Wedge Partners with Sila Adding Speed and Security to Smart Debit Card
DeliverFund joined with more than 80 participating federal, state, local law enforcement agencies and task forces from across California in the week-long statewide effort from February 6-12, 2022, assisting law enforcement in multiple trafficking cases, numerous traveler cases, and numerous child exploitation cases.
Declared “widely successful” by participating law enforcement, the primary goal of Operation “Reclaim and Rebuild” was to disrupt the human trafficking market in Southern California. In San Luis Obispo County, DeliverFund personnel directly assisted the San Luis Obispo County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, where investigators from multiple agencies and task forces joined together to better address the supply and demand side of the trafficking market as well as underage sexual exploitation market by finding traffickers, including pimps.
This close collaboration accounted for 7% of the arrests directly related to trafficking from the statewide operation, and 2 female victims were also offered services. Over 100 escort ad contacts were conducted by the investigative team.
“Our partnership with DeliverFund ensured that our tri-county operation was successful, meeting our objective to disrupt and dismantle trafficking activity and to rescue victims from their traffickers,” said San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow. “Our community is safer today because of the assistance that DeliverFund has provided to our enforcement team. Our local operation led to the arrest of three individuals who were attempting to purchase a 13-year-old child for sexual exploitation and six other arrests for trafficking-related crimes.”
“DeliverFund has the largest, analyst-curated human trafficking database in the United States, and we’ve reduced the time it takes to identify a victim and persons of interest from several weeks to mere hours,” said DeliverFund Senior Targeting Analyst Shane Erickson. “We are using the same technology that human traffickers use to scale their business to tear down their networks in real time. This enables law enforcement to investigate and prosecute individuals at scale.”
By identifying and arresting their captors and seeking successful prosecutions, DeliverFund and law enforcement partners observed a total disruption of the human trafficking market from the central coast of California into Southern California during Operation Reclaim and Rebuild.
Having that technology is critical, as the traffickers rely on the internet to seek opportunities to exploit the most vulnerable, particularly teenagers. By understanding where in cyberspace these criminals prowl, specially-trained cyber detectives were able to pose as vulnerable teenagers to interact with suspects on social media and intercept their exploitation attempts. The technology is also used to help investigators pinpoint physical locations where trafficking would likely take place, keeping enforcement efforts highly focused and efficient.