When the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is not arresting Americans for protesting abortion or arresting Donald J. Trump for the 6th or 7th time, the FBI is on the case against pimps, or at least pretending to be on the case against the trafficking of women for the purpose of prostitution. The FBI announced the conclusion of Operation Cross Country XIII, as if it were the Super Bowl or something, with self-congratulations for “rescuing” 200 women and arresting or identifying sex traffickers and child sexual exploitation. A closer reading shows something else.
The FBI, working with its state and local partners, identified and located 200 victims of sex trafficking during a nationwide enforcement campaign, called “Operation Cross Country.” The operation also led to identification or arrest of 126 suspects of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking offenses and 68 suspects of trafficking were identified or arrested.
Through targeted operations and collaborative efforts, Operation Cross Country achieved significant milestones in recovering victims, apprehending offenders, and raising public awareness about these heinous crimes. The FBI and its partners located 59 minor victims of child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation offenses and located 59 actively missing children during its 2-week operation in July.
[Operation Cross Country XIII Leads to Identification/Location of Adolescent Victims, FBI Press Release, August 1, 2023]
Note the important qualifying language of the press release, “The operation also led to identification or arrest of 126 suspects of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking offenses and 68 suspects of trafficking were identified or arrested.” Just what does “identification or arrest” mean? If they were suspects, why weren’t they arrested? Why were they just identified? Usually that means there was not probable cause to make an arrest, which usually means that a crime was not committed. Then why is the FBI lauding itself for merely “identifying” suspects?
The most likely reason is that the FBI has a public affairs problem with politically biased investigations and operations coming to light, such as obsession with parents protesting tranny propaganda, claiming Latin-Rite Catholics are terrorists, and their political bias against Donald Trump as revealed by the Mueller and Durham reports show gross political bias and incompetence. What better to cover up bad news than with arresting alleged sex traffickers exploiting little children?
The only problem is that the FBI made no arrests in Operation Cross Country XIII, with all the arrests made by local law enforcement agencies for minor crimes, mostly the solicitation of sex with a minor. While some underage prostitutes may have been “rescued,” most likely they all went back to work the next day. Basically the FBI is doing a Jodie Foster, remaking Taxi Driver and Foxes, combining runaways with prostitution.
Your correspondent contacted the FBI to get their arrest statistics concerning Operation Cross Country XIII. The FBI press office refused to get back to me with the records I requested, which were the number of arrests executed by FBI Special Agents, a list of Federal charges filed, a list of arrests made by other Federal agencies, such as ICE SVU, and the number and charges concerning arrests by local agencies working as part of the FBI-led operation.
As one can imagine, the FBI refused to provide this information, which should be a matter of public record. Most likely they refused to provide the information requested concerning FBI arrests because there were no arrests by FBI agents, or even by ICE SVU, for any charges, much less Federal charges concerning alien smuggling or violations of the Mann Act. They obviously refused to provide information concerning the arrests and charges made by local agencies involved in this operation because the FBI did not want to get show up as dishonest and misleading about what the FBI actually did as part of the operation.
However, Bill Melugin of Fox News did, inadvertently, let the cat out of the bag. He obtained arrest information from local agencies, which identified many of those arrested as illegal aliens arrested on local charges of solicitation of prostitution or soliciting child sex. Nothing about sex trafficking or such, just the vice squad busting johns and their teenage hookers.
Florida officials said Wednesday that nearly 40% of the people arrested in one part of the state in a recent operation cracking down on child sex exploitation were in the U.S. illegally—amid continued concerns from Republicans about criminals and sex offenders coming in across the southern border.
Officials said that seven out of 19 people arrested in Bay County, Florida, were in the country illegally. Five have no record showing lawful entry into the U.S. One man was admitted on a B-2 visitors visa that expired in 2021, and another was admitted on a J-1 student visa that also expired in 2021.
Of those arrested in Bay County, 14 were arrested for traveling to engage in sexual activity with a minor. Five were arrested for possession of child pornography.
[Florida Sting Targeting Child Sex Exploitation Finds Nearly 40% Of Arrestees In US Illegally, by Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin, Fox News, August 2, 2023]
Press release from the Bay County Sheriff's Office. pic.twitter.com/hEFoknXRtc
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 2, 2023
NEW: Florida announces 7 out of 19 people arrested in Bay County, FL during a recent nationwide child sex trafficking operation were in the US illegally. Operation Cross Country XIII involved the FBI & HSI working w/ FL law enforcement, locating 59 child sex trafficking victims. pic.twitter.com/AuAbzMTHqP
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 2, 2023
And where was ICE SVU? While listed by the FBI as a participant in Cross Country XIII, ICE SVU put nothing out on their X feed about arrests for sex trafficking, which really does not exist. ICE SVU is so uninterested in an FBI-led operation they did not even try to take credit or poach the operation, as they do for local arrests on prostitution.
