DETROIT – The FBI said it has rescued 105 children who were forced into prostitution in the United States and arrested 150 people it described as pimps and others in a series of raids in 76 American cities.
The campaign, known as "Operation Cross Country," was the largest of its type and conducted under the FBI's "Innocence Lost" initiative.
According to the FBI, 10 children were rescued and 18 pimps were arrested through its Detroit office.
Detroit's numbers were second only behind San Francisco, where 12 children were rescued and 17 pimps were arrested.
The assistant director of the FBI's criminal investigative division, Ron Hosko, said that child prostitution remains what he called a "persistent threat" to children across America.
The FBI said the campaign has resulted in rescuing 2,700 children since 2003.
