42 people were arrested by Lake Worth Police over the course of two days during a counter-human trafficking operation officials called “Operation April Fools.”
Manoushagian added, people often question whether a city has a “human trafficking problem” after operations like these are publicly discussed. In Lake Worth, he said, “The short answer is ‘no’, but it’s more complicated than that.”
"Human trafficking is a problem everywhere, whether we can see it or not, and given our close proximity to the border here in Texas it is a bigger problem here than elsewhere in the country," he said. “A lot of those people crossing the border have to pay a debt. They had to pay someone to get across. Human trafficking is one way traffickers collect that debt. They, in essence, sell people into slavery to pay back. What it costs to get them across the border. We realize that.
The 42 arrested face charges of solicitation of prostitution, which is a state jail felony. The charge carries a maximum penalty of up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine.
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