Thirty-seven missing children were found in Riverside County during a recent operation conducted by the California Department of Justice and the U.S. Marshals, according to a statement released on Mar. 18.
The recovery of these children highlights ongoing efforts to address child exploitation and human trafficking in the region. The operation, called Operation Safe Return, also resulted in the arrest of seven suspects.
Operation Safe Return focuses on locating at-risk missing children by investigating cases listed in the National Crime Information Center. Several local agencies participated in the sweep, including the Riverside Police Department, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, Riverside County Probation Office, California Highway Patrol, and the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services.
“We will never stop fighting to protect California children,” state Attorney General Rob Bonta said in the statement. “Through collaboration between state and federal authorities, we were able to identify, locate, and safely recover 37 vulnerable children, while holding those responsible for their exploitation accountable.”
The California Department of Justice operates three teams dedicated to preventing human trafficking: the Sacramento Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, the Fresno Human Trafficking Sexual Predator Apprehension Team, and the San Diego County Human Trafficking Task Force.
Authorities say these collaborative operations are part of broader efforts to ensure child safety and hold offenders accountable.
