HOUSTON – Seventy missing children were recovered during a law enforcement operation in West Texas, authorities announced last week.
Homeland Security Investigations El Paso, the Texas Department of Public Safety and numerous other federal, state and local agencies located and recovered the children as part of the three-week operation.
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“Operation Lost Souls” – which ran from the end of April through mid-May in El Paso, Midland and Ector and Tom Green counties – recovered the missing youth, many of them runaways, ranging in age from 10 to 17.
The children recovered included victims of sex trafficking, and physical and sexual abuse, U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement said in a news release. The majority of the children were located in West Texas, but some were located in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex as well as the state of Colorado and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, authorities said.
The agencies provided victim services and counseling to the recovered children and their families.
“Operation Lost Souls exemplifies Homeland Security Investigations’ commitment to protecting the public from crimes of victimization. In this case, we are looking out for our children - our community’s most precious resource,” said HSI El Paso Deputy Special Agent in Charge Taekuk Cho. “HSI is committed to continue working with our law enforcement partners to locate, recover and help missing children heal, while ensuring that perpetrators are held responsible for these heinous crimes and brought to justice.”
Results of the operation were released during a news conference on May 25, which coincided with National Missing Children’s Day.
“At the Department of Public Safety, teamwork is one of our core values,” said DPS Major Matthew Mull. “We are grateful for all of our law enforcement partners who participated in this operation and who work around-the-clock every day to protect our communities, including our youth.”
The multi-agency operation produced additional information and leads that HSI said it is investigating.
If you have information about a human trafficking victim, information about this type of criminal activity, please contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888.