KSHB 41 reporter Marlon Martinez covers Platte and Clay counties in Missouri. Share your story idea with Marlon.
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Two men are facing charges after an undercover counter-human trafficking operation conducted by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
"Unfortunately, there's a lot of victims of human trafficking out there," said Lt. Chris Johnson.
Jose Trinidad-Diaz, 33, and Dominic Shelby, 34, were charged for similar crimes in separate incidents.
The operations, part of an ongoing effort to combat human trafficking, took place last week.
Investigators said the suspects communicated with who they thought was an underage girl online, arranging to meet in person. When they arrived at the agreed location, deputies took them into custody.
"In the past couple of years, we've done a few," Johnson said. "They're becoming more prominent in our other law enforcement agencies here in the local area."
As part of the efforts, investigators also conducted a victim advocacy operation at a Clay County hotel.
Investigators posted an online ad purportedly soliciting sex as many sex workers are often victims of human trafficking.
"The goal behind that was to offer them advocacy services to try and get them out of [the] sex trafficking world," Johnson said. "In this operation, there was up to 27 face-to-face contacts, and in doing so, 13 of the workers who arrived accepted to meet for follow-up services with our advocacy groups.”
Advocates from the organizations Value Unconditional and Relentless Pursuit met with the victims and began giving them resources.
“We also need to look at the other side of it and helping people by giving them services, getting them out of the light that they're in and help them move forward," Johnson said.
Authorities encourage anyone with information about human trafficking to report it to law enforcement or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
