11 missing children recovered in Georgia trafficking sting

ATLANTA - The Georgia Attorney General’s Office announced Friday that 11 missing children were found across the state during a nationwide human trafficking crackdown called Operation "Coast to Coast."

What we know:

The Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit led the local part of a coordinated effort on Thursday to find victims and break up trafficking networks, according to the Attorney General's Office. Law enforcement found 11 children in Georgia, while 129 victims were identified across the country. One of the victims found nationally was a woman who was seven months pregnant.

More than 250 agencies joined the search, including police departments from Atlanta, Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Marietta. The operation was organized by the Human Trafficking Training Center to find missing children, who the Attorney General’s Office says are involved in the vast majority of trafficking cases.

What we don't know:

While officials confirmed the children were recovered, they have not yet said how many people were arrested in Georgia or what specific charges the buyers and sellers are facing. It is also unclear exactly where in Georgia each child was found or where they are being housed now that they are safe.

The backstory:

The specialized unit was created in 2019 to handle trafficking cases statewide. Since then, it has secured more than 70 convictions and assisted over 200 children. Over the last two years, the team has also closed more than 40 illegal massage businesses in counties like Gwinnett, Fulton, and Cobb through a separate project called Operation "In Plain Sight."

Big picture view:

This isn't the first time Georgia has joined a large-scale rescue. A previous partnership called Operation "Not Forgotten" found dozens of children in 2020 and 2021. In one case, a 17-year-old girl reported missing from Kansas City was found at a hotel in Fulton County. That single recovery led to the prosecution of 13 different traffickers who bought and sold her.