Operation Coast to Coast, led by Human Trafficking Training Center, mobilizes more than 250 law enforcement agencies across 30 states, resulting in 129 identified victims and 139 arrests.   

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 250 law enforcement agencies across 30 states moved simultaneously Thursday to identify victims, arrest traffickers and buyers, and seize criminal assets — executing one of the largest anti-human trafficking operations ever conducted in the United States. Operation "Coast to Coast" identified 129 victims, including 11 minors and one adult who was seven months pregnant, detained 86 adult males, arrested 53 sex buyers, executed 108 search warrants — including at 36 illicit massage businesses — and seized more than $500,000 in criminal assets, including gold, silver, cash and vehicles.

Human trafficking is a $99 billion criminal industry in the United States, operating in hotels, massage businesses, truck stops and neighborhoods in every state. Most victims are never identified. Most traffickers are never caught. Thursday's operation was built to change that through years of coalition-building: training law enforcement with skills-based training, funding operations, deploying technology to identify victims, and ensuring that when a victim is found, there is somewhere equipped to receive them.

Operation Coast to Coast was organized and led by the Human Trafficking Training Center (HTTC), a law enforcement training organization founded by former Missouri State Trooper Dan Nash. Less than 17% of U.S. law enforcement agencies currently have training to identify and investigate human trafficking — a gap HTTC is closing by training more than 7,000 officers per year with investigative-backed strategies and techniques to recover victims and put traffickers in prison. Every agency in Thursday's operation has been trained by HTTC, which coordinated the operation through the Iowa Fusion Center under one non-negotiable standard: every recovered victim is treated as a victim, not a suspect. Safe House Project, Our Rescue, Marinus Analytics, and Delta Air Lines also supported the operation — spanning victim identification, intelligence gathering, operational funding, and survivor transport.

"Most law enforcement has never been trained on how to effectively investigate trafficking or support victims. That gap is why traffickers have operated in plain sight for decades. Every agency in this operation walked in knowing the difference between a victim and a criminal — the person being exploited is not the target, the person doing the exploiting is. Our Rescue made sure no agency sat on the sidelines for lack of funding. Marinus Analytics put the right intelligence in investigators' hands before they ever knocked on a door. This operation is what the pinnacle looks like — traffickers arrested, victims supported, and the crime finally being fought the way it should have been all along."

— Dan Nash, Founder and CEO, Human Trafficking Training Center

Safe House Project, a national anti-trafficking nonprofit, worked with law enforcement to ensure recovered victims were supported and connected to one of its more than 4,000 vetted partners. Safe House Project also routed actionable tips to participating agencies through Simply Report, its AI-powered app that allows community members to report suspected trafficking and routes those tips to law enforcement — contributing to a 1,200% increase in victim identification in states where it has been deployed.

"Yesterday's operation is just the start. Finding a victim and helping them find freedom are not the same thing. Without immediate connection to specialized, vetted care, 80% of recovered victims are revictimized. Safe House Project's role in this operation was to close that gap: connecting recovered victims to a partner equipped to meet their specific needs and walk with them toward healing. Identification without infrastructure is not a win. Finding them and getting them out is step one. We're here for every step after that."

— Kristi Wells, CEO and Co-founder, Safe House Project

Thursday's operation was the fourth execution of Operation Coast to Coast. Since its launch in August 2024 as a grassroots effort across 12 states, the operation has grown to 30 states and more than 250 participating agencies — recovering 270 victims across its four operations. That growth tracks directly with HTTC's expanding training reach: more agencies trained, more states activated, more victims reached, more arrests made.

Participating states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

To report suspected human trafficking, visit simplyreport.com. For more information, visit humantraffickingtrainingcenter.com or safehouseproject.org.

About the Human Trafficking Training Center
The Human Trafficking Training Center equips law enforcement agencies with the specialized knowledge needed to identify, investigate and prosecute human trafficking. Founded by former Missouri State Trooper Dan Nash, HTTC has trained more than 21,000 law enforcement officers since its founding 4 years ago and has trained every agency participating in Operation Coast to Coast. Visit humantraffickingtrainingcenter.com.

About Safe House Project
Safe House Project is a national anti-human trafficking nonprofit dedicated to ending trafficking through training, technology, survivor support, safe house certification and policy advocacy. Since 2018, Safe House Project has connected more than 5,000 survivors to specialized care. Its AI-powered reporting platform, Simply Report, allows community members to report suspected trafficking and routes those tips to law enforcement. Visit safehouseproject.org.

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SOURCE Human Trafficking Training Center