Thirty-three people have been arrested in Atlanta for sex trafficking just days before New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams compete for the Super Bowl championship title.
On Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, announced the arrests and mentioned four victims have been rescued. According to Nielsen, several state, local and federal law enforcement agencies are “conducting proactive human trafficking enforcement operations as we speak.”
“[We’re] ensuring that criminals don’t use these events to exploit the most vulnerable among us… [we] have trained businesses and state and local entities to spot the signs of trafficking,” Nielsen said at the conference.
Nick Annan, Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge, says they are unable to go into details about the incident, but the arrests were made over the last four days. Officials say events like the Super Bowl are prime times for sex traffickers to make a profit off tourists and affluent citizens. “We plan to continue what we’re doing,” Annan said of ongoing efforts to stamp out trafficking.
Last year, 94 men were arrested in Minneapolis for their involvement in sex trafficking rings 11 days prior to the Philadelphia Eagles’ win against the Patriots, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.
