Multistate sex trafficking ring busted, U.S. attorney says

Twenty-nine people were arrested in 13 cities across eight states Thursday for their alleged involvement in a sex trafficking operation.

The Operation Safe Haven investigation began in August 2014 in Moultrie, where authorities identified a rural brothel operated by a loose-knit organization that moves Hispanic females across the U.S. border and into the Southeast for sex trafficking, U.S. Attorney Michael Moore said Friday.

Brothels and homes were searched, and 15 victims were rescued in Thursday's raid, Moore said. Nine suspects remain at large, according to a statement from Moore's office.

"Basically, they're preying on women coming over, which is a vulnerable population, of course," Moore said. "These victims were transported from brothel to brothel across state lines. ... Some of these victims were expected to have sex with intercourse with 30 customers, or johns, each weekday and up to 70 individuals on each day of the weekend."

The investigation was a collaborative effort of local, state and federal law enforcement officers.

"This is just a great example of interagency work," Moore said. "This (operation) really has been the poster child for us working together."

Busts were made on brothels in the following cities: Moultrie and Atlanta, Georgia; Orlando and Pensacola, Florida; Columbia and Greenville, South Carolina; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Jackson and Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana; Houston, Texas; Birmingham, Alabama; and Nashville, Tennessee.

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 1:06 PM.