Border Report: Agents locate 70 missing minors, some were abused; 'Operation Lost Souls' Brings Home 70 American Children, Missing Youths Found as Far Away as Mexico

Border Report: Agents locate 70 missing minors, some were abused

Seventy minors, many lured from their homes by online acquaintances and some subjected to sexual exploitation, are now safe thanks to the work of West Texas law enforcement agencies.

A coalition of federal, state and local investigators rescued children as young as 10 from places like Midland, El Paso, Dallas, the state of Colorado and Juarez, Mexico. From late April to mid-May, the investigators followed leads from relatives and scoured the internet to locate minors reported as runaways.

This is the second time the agencies conduct a high-intensity sweep dubbed “Operation Lost Souls.” The previous one resulted in the return of 24 children home.

“HSI is committed to protecting our nation’s most precious resource, children, by investigating and bringing to justice those individuals who engage in the sexual exploitation of minors,” said Taekuk Cho, deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso. “Sadly, however, several of these children were ostensibly victims of physical and sexual abuse and human trafficking.”

Some of the minors had fled difficult situations at home, others walked away from foster families. But many others fell prey to people they communicated with online and lured them to leave. --->READ MORE HERE

ICE / AP

'Operation Lost Souls' Brings Home 70 American Children, Missing Youths Found as Far Away as Mexico:

In its second year of bringing law enforcement partners together to help children, 70 missing children were recovered in a three-week operation centered in west Texas.

Homeland Security Investigations El Paso, the Texas Department of Public Safety and multiple other local, state and federal agencies worked together, according to a news release on the website of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Operation Lost Souls ran from the end of April through mid-May.

Last year, Operation Lost Souls found 24 missing children and runaways during a similar time frame, according to the El Paso Times.

Within Texas, most missing young people were found in El Paso, Midland, Ector, and Tom Green counties, with some found in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Some children were also found in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, while others were found in Colorado. --->READ MORE HERE

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