The Republic, having discovered that vice travels well, recently organized a grand excursion to meet it, calling the affair “Operation Coast to Coast,” which sounds like a holiday until you read the fine print. More than 250 agencies from 30 states identified 154 victims, arrested 139 people, and gathered half a million dollars in assets.
Among those recovered were a dozen minors and an expectant mother, which lends the enterprise a moral clarity even a politician could admire. More than 100 search warrants got served, each one a small reminder that paperwork, when sufficiently multiplied, can begin to resemble justice.
In Northern Nevada, the HEAT Unit of the Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County school police joined the hunt with the Regional Gang Unit and a Mobile Engagement Team, forming a coalition so thoroughly named it might frighten crime into better grammar. Their local harvest included the arrest of Donte Washington, 35, on pandering charges, along with three other gentlemen who had previously declined invitations from the court: Adam Brenner, 45, and Darren Morgan, 40, both absent from their scheduled reckonings, and Len Sadler, 47, who had taken a more ambitious approach and absconded from parole altogether.
Authorities say the work continues, as it must, for this is a trade that thrives in shadow and resents inspection. They invite the public to assist, offering phone numbers and email addresses as a sort of civic lantern. It is a hopeful gesture that enough light, applied steadily, may yet persuade a dark business to close early.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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