Operation Northern Spotlight: Canadian LEOs, FBI Halt Human Trafficking

By Tactical-Life

The FBI joined law enforcement officials from across Canada in Toronto yesterday to announce the results of Operation Northern Spotlight, a human trafficking investigation that led to the recovery of 20 sexually exploited juveniles and the arrests of numerous individuals.

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The Canadian operation—carried out by 40 police agencies and hundreds of law enforcement officers—was conducted as a parallel action with the FBI’s Operation Cross Country, the results of which were announced earlier this month.

“Human trafficking investigations are complex and labor intensive, but entirely necessary,” said Scott Tod, deputy commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). He noted that human trafficking victims are often from susceptible populations, including immigrants, migrant workers, and at-risk youth. “And human trafficking victims rarely identify themselves to authorities,” he said.

“Human trafficking is a very serious criminal threat that often targets the most vulnerable—our children,” added Joseph Campbell, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. The collaboration between U.S. and Canadian law enforcement to fight trafficking, he explained, is essential.

Operation Cross Country is part of the FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative. Since its creation in 2003, the Innocence Lost program has resulted in the identification and …Read the Rest

Source:: Tactical Life