Human trafficking crackdown includes Winnipeg police, FBI, others

An international crackdown on human traffickinginvolving theWinnipeg police and39 other agencies, including the FBI, led to47 people being charged with135 offences.

A number of people identified as victims, forced into the sex trade against their will, were also rescued, according to a press release from the Winnipeg Police Service.

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None of those charged were in Winnipeg, but 34 women, aged19 to 51, were interviewed in massage parlours and hotels throughout the city. A number of them,believed to be under some level of control, wereoffered help through community organizations.

Internationally, the investigation namedOperation Northern Spotlightled to the rescue of20 people, including youth aged 14 to 16.

In all, 348 officers and support staff interviewed 326 people who were mainly women but also included one male and two transgenderpeople, according to police.

The investigation,conducted during a weekin early October, led to arange of charges,includingtrafficking in persons, forcible confinement, child pornography, and sexual assault with a weapon.