Law enforcement officials were prepared to address the human trafficking issue during Super Bowl week, and those efforts paid off.
According to the Miami-Dade State Attorney, authorities recovered 20 suspected human trafficking victims during Super Bowl LIV. Four of those victims said they lived in Miami-Dade or Broward counties, although the remainder said they were from other states and four foreign countries.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the Miami-Dade, Miami Beach and City of Miami Police Departments, as well as other local law enforcement agencies, the local Super Bowl Host Committee and the Women’s Fund Miami-Dade partnered in order to prevent potential human trafficking activities in the days leading up to and after the big game.
My #EndHumanTrafficking Task Force & partners @SDFLnews @FBIMiamiFL @DHSgov @MiamiDadePD @MiamiBeachPD @MiamiPD & other local law enforcement agencies, @MIASBLIV Host Committee & @WomensFundMiami were able to recover 20 victims of Human Trafficking before/during the event. pic.twitter.com/Bitb5fjPtA
— Kathy Rundle (@KathyFndzRundle) February 20, 2020
“Trafficking survivors and other experts had previously warned us that our community would attract human traffickers that look to take advantage of the economic impact and influx of visitors produced by the Super Bowl itself,” State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle says. “That is why we joined forces with local, state and federal agencies and community organizations to tackle this threat successfully as one team”.