Authorities in Los Angeles on Tuesday touted the results of a statewide crackdown on human trafficking, announcing the arrests of more than 600 suspects and saying more than 170 victims were rescued as part of the operation. “This is a multibillion-dollar industry,” said Los Angeles County Dist. In addition, 14 children were rescued from sex trafficking. “We have traffickers that are putting barely teenage girls out there on the streets of Los Angeles to be victimized,” he said. Hochman also criticized current state sex trafficking laws, which don’t consider incidents involving adults as serious, violent felonies, he said.
