LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Women and children victims of human trafficking in Little Rock received assistance during a recent Arkansas State Police operation.
ASP stated in a Friday release that it had offered assistance to 10 women and two minor females during a one-day operation in late September. The 12 were offered help including food, lodging, onsite medical services, counseling, therapy and drug rehabilitation, which five of the women accepted.
The two minors were taken into protective custody and released to the Department of Human Services, investigators said.
Investigators added that 10 men were “contacted and detained” as part of the operation.
A department spokesperson said that further information about the operation could not be released due to the ongoing investigation, adding that human trafficking “continues to be a problem in Arkansas and across the United States.”
ASP director Colonel Mike Hagar said the operation was part of an ongoing operation in the state.
“These efforts will go a long way toward making Arkansas an intolerable environment for human trafficking,” Hagar said. “The Arkansas law enforcement community is committed to entering the dark world of human trafficking with compassion so that we can pull victims into the light.”
Officials said the operation was made possible through the coordinated efforts of representatives from federal, state, local and non-government organizations including the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office, Little Rock Police Department, Department of Homeland Security Investigations, Department of Finance and Administration, Harrison Police Department, Cabot Police Department, the Arkansas Fusion Center, along with victim advocates from the Regional Intervention of Sexual Exploitation (RISE), The Genesis Project, the Hub of Hope, Into the Light, Paws for Justice, Children’s Protection Center and the NWA Forensic Nurse Team.
Anyone with information or suspicion of human trafficking is asked to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-8888
