A nationwide FBI sting dubbed "Operation Cross Country" has led to the arrest of 150 pimps and "Johns" and the rescue of 149 sexually exploited children last week.

The FBI worked with hundreds of law enforcement officials, at the local and state level, along with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to save victims of prostitution and capture child sex traffickers as part of the Bureau's Innocence Lost National Initiative.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the FBI announced that 2015 marked the ninth year of their annual sting operation, which netted more recoveries and arrests than any other year.

"Our mission is to protect the American people -- especially our children -- from harm," FBI Director James Comey said in the statement. 

"When kids are treated as a commodity in seedy hotels and on dark roadsides, we must rescue them from their nightmare and severely punish those responsible for that horror. We simply must continue to work with our partners to end the scourge of sex trafficking in our country," Comey said.

According to federal data, the youngest victim in this year's operation was 12 years old, while 3 of the 149 minors were transgender and three were males. The report also revealed the most rescues took place in Denver for the second consecutive year, where 20 minors were recovered.

"Human trafficking is a monstrous and devastating crime that steals lives and degrades our nation," said Attorney General Loretta Lynch, according to CBS DFW. "As a result of the FBI's outstanding coordination and exemplary efforts alongside state and local partners during Operation Cross Country, more children will sleep safely tonight, and more wrongdoers will face the judgment of our criminal justice system."

The Innocence Lost program, which was first created in 2003, has identified and recovered approximately 4,800 sexually exploited children to date. Prosecutors have also convicted over 2,000 pimps and adults involved with trafficking crimes.

"From an investigative standpoint, Operation Cross Country targets the individuals and criminal enterprises responsible for the commercial sex trafficking of children," said one of the victim specialists from the FBI's Office for Victim Assistance. "But our main goal is to provide support and services for these young victims-to help stabilize them and get them moving forward in a positive direction."

Officials behind Operation Cross Country also note the growth of the role of social media, apps and the Internet in child exploitation.

"Historically we'd see majority of missing kids were being recruited in person and being sold in the real world, in hotels and at truck stops," said Staca Shehan, executive director of case analysis at the NCMEC. "While that all still occurs, pimps have adjusted their recruitment to social networking and online apps to approach children. What we're seeing is an increase in the sale of children online."

Despite the role of modern technology, experts say traffickers still target vulnerable children, including those placed in a local child welfare system, runaways and victims of trauma, abuse or drug addiction.