Authorities working across New Jersey recovered six children and arrested two alleged pimps as part of a nationwide push against human trafficking operations.
NEWARK -- Authorities working across New Jersey recovered six child victims and arrested two alleged pimps as part of a nationwide push against human trafficking operations, said a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation Newark field office Wednesday.
In total, FBI officials recovered 149 children identified as trafficking victims and arrested 153 as part of the nationwide initiative dubbed Operation Cross Country.
Details of the New Jersey arrests were not immediately made available. But Special Agent Celeste Danzi, spokeswoman for the Newark FBI office, said via a release that local and federal authorities conducted investigations in 135 U.S. cities, including Newark and Atlantic City.
ALSO: Inside the N.J. hotel where cops fight human trafficking
Federal, state and local law enforcement organizations, conducted both "in-call" and "out-call" sting operations in hotels, casinos, truck stops and in other areas known to be frequented by both prostitutes, sex-traffickers and their customers, Danzi said.
Officials have not disclosed the identities of six people arrested in New Jersey as part of the initiative.
"Sex trafficking of children is a heinous crime of violence," said Richard M. Frankel, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Newark Field Office. "I am proud of the FBI's role along with our partners in Operation Cross Country; the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and New Jersey state and local agencies in shining a light on this terrible crime."
Operation Cross Country is part of the FBI's Innocence Lost national initiative, which began in 2003. Since the program's inception, more than 4,800 children have been recovered from underage prostitution and prosecutors have obtained more than 2,000 convictions, authorities said.
Vernal Coleman can be reached at vcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @vernalcoleman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
