On Feb. 6, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and Amber Alert activist Ed Smart were featured guests on Salt Lake Community College radio at South City Campus.
Reyes and Smart went on the air to raise awareness about human trafficking victims and Operation Underground Railroad.
Operation Underground Railroad, aka O.U.R., is a non-profit organization that works around the world with governments and local law enforcement to rescue victims of human trafficking. They help sustain shelters and provide recovery services to victims.
During their time in the Radio SLCC studio, Reyes recalled his experience working with O.U.R. on a “jump mission” in Columbia last year.
O.U.R. partnered with local civilians to secretly fabricate the pretense that they wanted to invest in children to be used at a sex party.
As it became clear that at dozens of children were being held by traffickers, O.U.R. and Columbian law enforcement had to carefully orchestrate this ruse to lure the dealers and their victims to a specific location.
With the cooperation of Columbian police and civilians, the group staged an entire island, including wait staff, guests, decorations and alcohol, to look like a legitimate sex party.
When the traffickers and children arrived, Reyes described that tensions mounted as the group waited for the perfect moment to break character and force the criminals to surrender.
Once all the players were on the designated marks, Columbian police swarmed the traffickers at gunpoint while O.U.R. group members whisked the children away to safety.
Reyes remembered being heartbroken as many of the young children had a drug-induced glaze in their eyes. None of the children knew what was happening when the raid started and as they were being evacuated from the scene.
Reyes and Smart added that human trafficking is not something that only happens in other countries; this type of crime is a problem in the United States as well. They said that today there are more than 30 million child slaves around the world.
Human trafficking is the second-most profitable enterprise in the world, behind drug trafficking. Victims come from all walks of life, regardless of age or nationality. They may be sold for sex, forced into the military, sold for adoption, or killed for their internal organs.
Since O.U.R. is a non-profit organization, they rely on donations to fund these rescues. On average, the cost of one rescue operation is approximately $20,000.
Smart suggested anyone wanting to help should visit the O.U.R. website. People may donate and become what is called an “abolitionist.”
Smart is the father of kidnap survivor, Elizabeth Smart.
Smart also said the best way to spread the word about O.U.R. is to use the power of social media. It’s free to do so, and it works.
