Seth Udinski, FISM News

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Human trafficking is one of the great evils of modern society, with more human beings enslaved now than at any other time in human history. Thankfully, law enforcement in the central United States recently carried out a massive rescue operation of 47 trafficked individuals, including two children.

Last week, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt shared that Operation United Front, a collection of law enforcement officers from several states, successfully rescued these individuals and also arrested 102 perpetrators of this heinous crime. Schmitt said in a statement:

Operation United Front was an unprecedented human trafficking operation that brought together law enforcement agencies from different jurisdictions – something that rarely happens. When we all come together, we can affect change and more effectively fight human trafficking, a crime that is often multi-jurisdictional in nature.

There appears to be a widespread belief that human trafficking is only problematic in third world countries.  This is simply not true. The human trafficking network in the United States is vast and extensive.  However, it appears Operation United Front did serious damage to the network across several states.  The operation successfully arrested traffickers in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

Hopefully the perpetrators will be given just punishment and more rescue missions like this will be carried out in the United States and worldwide.