Twelve Exploited Children Found in Las Vegas

Twelve children are safe after a four-day operation in Las Vegas aimed at locating juveniles believed to be victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

The effort, known as the “Big Search Missing & Exploited Children Task Force Operation,” was conducted Feb. 2 through Feb. 6. The operation primarily focused on locating juveniles identified as victims of human trafficking, as well as those considered missing or endangered.

Twenty-one missing children had already been found as of Jan. 31 by the Nevada Human Trafficking Task Force and “Big Search” teams. Once found, the juveniles were turned over to law enforcement and connected with resources for both the children and their guardians, officials said.

In addition to recovering missing children, the task force submitted multiple intelligence leads to local law enforcement agencies investigating exploitation-related cases.