The Clarion-Ledger

Two alleged child sex traffickers in Mississippi along with 20 individuals identified as associated with prostitution were among those nabbed in a nationwide crackdown that led to the recovery of 84 minors, the youngest 3 months old.

The FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children announced Wednesday the results of Operation Cross Country XI. In all, 120 alleged traffickers were arrested across the United States as part of the nationwide effort focusing on underage human trafficking that ran from Oct. 12-15, according to an FBI news release .

All suspects arrested during this operation will be charged in the local jurisdiction where they were arrested.

This is the 11th iteration of the FBI-led Operation Cross Country, which took place this year in 55 FBI field offices and involved 78 state and local task forces, consisting of hundreds of law enforcement partners. Several international partners also were involved, including Canada (Operation Northern Spotlight), the United Kingdom, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines.

In Mississippi, the FBI Jackson Division partnered with the attorney general’s office; the sheriff’s departments in Rankin and Prentiss counties; the police departments in Ridgeland, Jackson and Madison; Mississippi Bureau of Investigation; Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics; and the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District. The University of Mississippi Medical Center provided medical support for the operation.

“We at the FBI have no greater mission than to protect our nation’s children from harm. Unfortunately, the number of traffickers arrested — and the number of children recovered —reinforces why we need to continue to do this important work,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in the news release. “This operation isn't just about taking traffickers off the street. It's about making sure we offer help and a way out to these young victims who find themselves caught in a vicious cycle of abuse."

FBI agents and task force officers staged operations in hotels, casinos and truck stops, as well as on street corners and Internet websites.

In Denver on Oct. 13, the FBI recovered two minor girls—one 3 months old and the other 5 years old. The suspect, a friend of the children's family now under arrest, had offered an undercover officer access to the two children for sex in exchange for $600. The FBI is working with Child Protective Services to conduct a forensic interview and secure safe placement of the children.

The average age of victims recovered during the operation was 15. These minors are offered assistance from state protective services and the FBI’s Victim Services Division. Depending on the level of need, victims are offered medical and mental health counseling, as well as a number of other services.

Operation Cross Country XI is part of the FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative, which began in 2003 and has yielded more than 6,500 child identifications and locations.