One hundred and sixty people have been charged following a human trafficking operation across the state of Ohio.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said that along with the arrests, the operation identified over 100 human trafficking survivors, USA Today reported Tuesday.
In a social media post Monday, Yost announced the successful weeklong crackdown that was dubbed “Operation Buyer’s Remorse,” noting 104 “potential human trafficking survivors” were “encountered and referred to services.”
AG Yost today announced the success of a weeklong statewide human trafficking crackdown, ‘Operation Buyer’s Remorse,’ which sought to arrest those trying to buy sex and to identify survivors of human trafficking. pic.twitter.com/yH4zkFGcmH
— Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (@OhioAG) October 2, 2023
Officials began arresting the individuals on September 25 and wrapped up their work on Saturday. The arrests occurred in and near the communities of Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, Youngstown, Marietta, and Portsmouth.
Video footage from the attorney general’s office shows authorities performing some of the arrests, and the agency said Yost “is calling it ‘Operation Buyer’s Remorse,’ targeting sex buyers who create demand for human trafficking.”
Lake Co. Lt. Larry Harpster said, “It’s not a big city problem, it’s an everybody problem. And it’s affecting everyone.”
Approximately 100 law enforcement agencies and human service groups across the state were involved in the operation that was led by the attorney general’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, per the USA Today article.
“Those arrested in the operation ranged in age from 17 to as old as 84 and included an EMT, nurses, former law enforcement officers and retirees, Yost reported,” the newspaper said.
The names of the individuals arrested can be viewed at this link.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking is a crime that “involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts.”
“The coercion can be subtle or overt, physical or psychological. Exploitation of a minor for commercial sex is human trafficking, regardless of whether any form of force, fraud, or coercion was used,” the agency explained.
In September, state officials were concerned that over 1,000 Ohio children were reported missing so far in 2023, according to Breitbart News.
One official noted that some of the children could be runaways.
