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- The Mississippi Attorney General said Tuesday that one arrest has been made as part of the North Mississippi law enforcement operation.
A person is under arrest and five people were recovered during the final day of Operation 806, a law enforcement effort to combat human trafficking in Mississippi.
Names were not immediately released.
Two search warrants were issued, led by the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Task Force with the help of federal, state, and local law enforcement.
The arrest and rescue occurred in Southaven and was carried out by the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hernando Police Department, Mississippi Department of Revenue – Alcoholic Beverage Control, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, & Parks, and the Southaven Police Department.
“My office is committed to taking criminals who traffic people off the streets and equally committed to setting victims on the road to recovery,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “We are grateful to our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners who worked with us on Operation 806 and who are a part of our task force network.”
Additional support for the operations was provided by the Center for Violence Prevention, which provided services and treatment to the victims.
Fitch explained that Operation 806 was part of the “Be the Solution” campaign, a statewide initiativethat has led to 99 arrests of human traffickers and the rescue of more than 340 victims since 2021.
Despite being one of the least populated states in the U.S., the Magnolia State has one of the highest rates of human trafficking.
“Mississippi has more reported incidences of human trafficking per capita than any other U.S. state,” World Population Review reports.
The Mississippi Coalition Against Human Trafficking found that data from the Human Trafficking Hotline shows a broad scope of human trafficking in the state.
“From its inception until 2023, the hotline identified 914 cases of human trafficking in the state, involving 2,058 victims. However, it’s important to note that these figures likely underestimate the true prevalence of human trafficking due to various factors, including the reluctance of victims and witnesses to come forward and the challenges in identifying victims,” the organization said.
The organization reports that, in recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in the identification of human trafficking cases in Mississippi.
“This upward trend underscores the growing awareness and efforts to address this issue within the state. However, it’s important to recognize that these figures likely only scratch the surface of the actual prevalence of human trafficking due to various challenges in identification and reporting,” the coalition stated.
Daniel Tyson
