Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-Miss.) reported that a two-week statewide law enforcement effort resulted in 72 arrests and the recovery of 29 human trafficking victims.
The Attorney General’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force, the Fentanyl Strike Force, and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force spearheaded Operation Guardian Force.
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According to Fitch, the operation took place from July 14 to July 29, 2025, and involved 400 federal, state, and local law enforcement personnel who worked together to effectively organize search warrants, arrests, and victim assistance. She added that the operation included a sex offender compliance check to seek and identify sex offender register absconders.
The following agencies participated:
- Bay St. Louis Police Department
- Biloxi Police Department
- Desoto County Sheriff’s Office
- Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Forrest County Sheriff’s Office
- Harrison County Sheriff’s Office
- Hattiesburg Police Department
- Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
- Horn Lake Police Department
- Jackson County Sheriff’s Office
- Jones County Sheriff’s Office
- Lamar County Sheriff’s Office
- Lee County Sheriff’s Office
- Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI)
- Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics (MBN)
- Mississippi Department of Revenue – Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC)
- Mississippi Office of Homeland Security
- North MS Narcotics Task Force
- Saltillo Police Department
- Southaven Police Department
- Stone County Sheriff’s Office
- Tunica County Sheriff’s Office
- Tupelo Police Department
- Wayne County Sheriff’s Office
In addition to law enforcement partners, the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence, Center for Violence Prevention, and Transformation Garden offered victims aid and treatment.
