A massive investigation into child sex trafficking resulted in the rescue of 60 "critically missing" children in the Tampa Bay area, Florida State Attorney James Uthmeier announced with other officials at a news conference on June 23.
"Operation Dragon Eye" was led by the U.S. Marshals Service Middle District of Florida and involved 20 agencies, state officials said. Eight people were arrested, with charges ranging from human trafficking, child endangerment, drug possession, and drug trafficking.
The investigation was focused on recovering or safely locating "critically missing" children in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. The children's ages ranged from 9 to 17, officials said.
"I have to curtail my enthusiasm because of the sensitivity of the victims involved in this operation, but the successful recovery of 60 missing children, complemented with the arrest of eight individuals, including child predators, signifies the most successful missing child recovery effort in the history of the United States Marshals Service; or to my knowledge, any other similar operation held in the United States," said William Berger, U.S. Marshal for the Middle District of Florida.
"The real heroes behind this operation are the law enforcement who built and executed this mission. As your Attorney General and a father of three young kids, protecting children is my top priority," Uthmeier said. "If you victimize children, you're going to prison, end of story."
