More than two dozen rescued from Nebraska trafficking ring, ICE says

Immigration and Customs Enforcement broke up a large human trafficking ring operated by illegal migrants out of eastern Nebraska, according to a Monday release from the Department of Homeland Security. Officials said they’d rescued a total of 27 trafficking victims during last week’s operation, including 10 children under the age of 12. Both adults and children were being trafficked for sex and packed into cockroach-infested rooms with no basic sanitation, according to DHS.

How did the gang operate? The gang worked out of motels and eyebrow salons across the Omaha metro area, according to DHS. Agents seized over $565,000 in cash and illegal drugs during the raids. Officials arrested five illegal Indian migrants and accused them of engaging in labor and sex trafficking, as well as harboring illegal migrants at several locations in the state, according to DHS. Officials also arrested 14 other accused illegal migrants living alongside trafficking victims, several of whom had criminal records.

ICE agents rescued children and women from being exploited, Assistant DHS Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in the Monday release. She reiterated the Trump administration's commitment to dismantling human trafficking networks, promising to prosecute perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law.

Dig deeper: Read Addie Offereins’ report on the Trump administration toughening rules to protect child migrants from trafficking.