Sixty-four people have been arrested in Riverside County just east of Los Angeles as part of an operation aimed at sexual slavery and human trafficking, the county sheriff's department said.
Operation Reclaim & Rebuild resulted in the arrests of 63 men and one woman after a four-day period that concluded Jan. 28.
"The task force arrested 61 males and one female for solicitation of prostitution, one male for soliciting a minor for lewd purposes, and one male for supervising/aiding a person to commit prostitution," the sheriff's department said in a release.
Two women believed to be forced into prostitution against their will were "referred to victim services for assistance."
Operation Reclaim & Rebuild, an annual program that last year resulted in 518 arrests statewide and 87 victims recovered – including 11 children, "targeted online prostitution and those whose demand for these unlawful activities fuels an illicit underground economy, both locally as well as across the State of California," the Riverside County Sheriff's Office said.
"The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force seeks to disrupt and dismantle sex trafficking rings operating within Riverside County and will aggressively identify, pursue, and apprehend those who seek to exploit those who are most vulnerable. Through proactive enforcement operations such as Reclaim and Rebuild, RCAHT works to reduce future demand for sex trafficking by identifying and arresting sex buyers."