Texas Attorney General Announces New Unit to Fight Human Trafficking
Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas announced the launch of Human Trafficking and Transnational Organized Crime unit (HTTOC), a new unit focused on combating human trafficking on Thursday.
The new HTTOC unit will initially include five investigators, a victims' advocate, a forensic accountant and three attorneys. According to Arklatex, the unit will coordinate with the local law officials and enforcement agencies to track down the criminal industry. The unit's main priority are those under labor and sex trafficking, by which is now making an estimated income of $32 billion annually. The head of the new enforcement unit will be Kirsta Leeburg Melton, the Attorney General's Office persecutor, who has been assigned to work human trafficking cases since 2009.
According to Melton, what drives human trafficking is the "huge links in the culture between pornography-use and the demand that creates a demand for prostitution." She also added that now is the perfect time for the community to see what is really happening, especially to understand the truth behind human trafficking.
"We don't see them, but they're there," Melton said pointing out to the victims of human trafficking.
She also added that "every life is worth the fight," that's why everyone must help and make a move. According to her, no one should be silent and immune to this tragedy where women, men and children are being forced to engage in this modern-day slavery. She also hopes for Texas to finally become a safe haven for residents.
"The fundamental goal of our new unit is to see that Texas becomes and remains a place where human life is not for sale," she added.
According to Dallas News, with annual net of about $99 million in Dallas alone, Paxton described Texas as "the heart of trafficking." In fact, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center recently reported 330 cases of human trafficking in Texas alone, involving 110 children and 211 adults.
"Fortunately, through this new unit and through recent changes to the law, Texas is in a great position to make headway in the fight against trafficking, and we will take the fight to the doorstep of traffickers at every opportunity," Paxton said during a press conference.
He also added that HTTOC is now being financed and plans to add more personnel to the group. The unit will now be expecting to work hard to get more traffickers prosecuted to prevent more people, especially children, to be trafficked in the future.
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