The St. Joseph Police Department, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and the Missouri State Highway Patrol announced Saturday that a successful human trafficking operation was completed late Friday night at two St. Joseph, Missouri, travel stop locations.
In a news release from Schmitt’s office, the operation was conducted at the Bucky’s Travel Plaza and Love’s Travel Stop in St. Joseph.
The release said it was a joint operation, organized by the St. Joseph Police Department, the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri Attorney General’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force.
The operation, police said, resulted in three arrests, with an additional arrest pending, and the rescue of six victims – five female and one male.
Two children, a two-year-old and an infant, were also rescued, according to police.
The Attorney General’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force consists of law enforcement and victim service providers from around the state working together to combat human trafficking, rescue victims and make communities safer.
Sixteen different agencies participated in the operation.
“Last night, my office’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, in coordination with multiple law enforcement agencies, conducted a successful human trafficking operation at two truck stops in St. Joseph, resulting in six victims and two children being rescued and three arrests,” Schmitt said in a statement.
“This operation was successful because of cooperation between my Office, the St. Joseph Police Department, the state highway patrol, the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office, and 13 other agencies and departments. This unprecedented success should send clear a message to traffickers: you are not welcome in Missouri, and you can’t hide any longer.”
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