Nine human trafficking victims rescued at Missouri Holiday Inn

(The AEGIS Alliance) – Nine human trafficking victims in Missouri have been rescued as of Friday evening, authorities stated.

There was a joint operation involving the Holiday Inn East hotel in Columbia that made it possible for agencies to reach a pair of kids and also apprehend 2 suspects, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt pointed out in a statement on Saturday.

“Since taking office, I’ve been dedicated to combating human trafficking across the state. Through my Office’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, we have conducted several successful human trafficking operations, including last night’s operation in Columbia,” Schmitt stated.

Victim services, consisting of food items as well as onsite health care services in addition to drug treatment and therapy, were provided to those who were rescued.

“Thanks to the hard work and cooperation of local, state, and federal law enforcement, we were able to rescue 9 victims,” Schmitt said. “We’re working every single day to make Missouri the most inhospitable state in the union to human traffickers, and last night’s operation was another step towards that goal.”

Multiple agencies, consisting of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and also the Columbia Police Department, additionally participated in the operation.

“Traffickers show no respect for their victims and prey on them for personal gain,” stated Columbia Police Department Assistant Chief Jeremiah Hunter.

Hunter, that manages the department’s Investigations Bureau, kept in mind the department is going to carry on partnering with Schmitt as well as others “to pursue those who prey on others and to assure this activity no longer occurs in Columbia.”

There is currently an ongoing investigation into this operation which could lead to additional rescues and arrests.

Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.