41 men, 1 woman arrested after Lake Worth prostitution bust
LAKE WORTH (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Police in Lake Worth arrested dozens of people over two days last week in the first operation targeting human trafficking that law enforcement has done in the city.
Operation April Fools ended with 41 men and one woman charged with solicitation of prostitution. The results were similar to operations conducted in Plano, Frisco, Southlake and other locations across North Texas over the last eight months.
None of the people arrested were actually from Lake Worth, Chief J.T. Manoushagian noted, highlighting the widespread nature of the problem.
"Human trafficking is a problem everywhere, whether we can see it or not," he said at a press briefing Wednesday. "And given our close proximity to the border, it's an even bigger problem than other places in the country."
Police worked with Homeland Security Investigations Dallas office on the operation, along with the North Texas Trafficking Task Force.
They also recovered four firearms, four pounds of drugs, $15,000 in cash and six fake license plates. Some of the people arrested were wanted for other crimes, including aggravated sexual assault of a child and solicitation of a minor.