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A deputy with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department rescued a victim of sex trafficking in Lynnwood during a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sting operation on Thursday.
The warrant served at the Lynnwood brothel was just one of 30 warrants served in Washington in the sting.
Special Investigations Unit detectives, with assistance from the Snohomish County Violent Offender Task Force, entered the facility and located an adult female, who was a victim of trafficking. A sheriff’s deputy and FBI agent interviewed the victim and offered her victim assistance.
“I’m proud of our agency’s involvement and the work by Sheriff’s Office detectives in helping take down this prostitution ring. These are difficult cases, requiring countless hours of investigative work and planning,” said Sheriff Ty Trenary. “Human trafficking is essentially a form of modern-day slavery and I won’t tolerate the victimization of women in Snohomish County.”
The location had been the subject of multiple complaints, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
No arrests were made at the Lynnwood location. However, six people were arrested in other locations around Washington, all allegedly associated with the same prostitution ring. The ring is known to have operated in Bellevue, Kent, Kirkland, Lynnwood, Olympia, Lacey, Puyallup, Renton, Tukwila, Seattle and Federal Way, as well as Richland, Kennewick, Wenatchee and Spokane in eastern Washington. Sex workers were regularly moved between areas, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
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