Police in Arizona have arrested 16 suspects in connection with child sex crimes and human trafficking following an undercover operation, officials said.
The joint sting operation, known as “Operation Tangled Web,” was conducted by the Phoenix police Human Exploitation and Trafficking unit alongside Mesa, Tempe, and Phoenix police departments, FBI, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and Phoenix police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit.
During the sting, undercover detectives placed advertisements on websites that are “commonly sought out by suspects seeking illegal sex acts” involving children. They then engaged in conversations with the suspects for weeks.
The 16 individuals, all males, allegedly “solicited and/or brokered deals for various sex acts and were subsequently arrested,” police said….