Human trafficking becoming a growing concern in Fort Worth

City Council members learned Tuesday that Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston are the two Texas metro areas with the highest numbers of human-trafficking cases.

“Human trafficking is an issue,” said Ken Dean, assistant police chief. “It’s very rare you find just one victim. We have our fair share when it come to the numbers of human-trafficking victims. We have plenty of work to be done.”

Fort Worth’s major-case unit along with a detective, officer, two Homeland Security agents and a civilian task force coordinator investigate human trafficking in Fort Worth, Dean said.

Human trafficking involves forcing a person or child into the sex trades or other labor, he said.

Councilwoman Kelly Allen Gray said, “We as a city need to figure out how to do more.”

In one case, police investigated an east-side gang for human trafficking for nine months. In all, 12 victims were identified and nine defendants were convicted and sent to prison, some for as long as 30 years, Dean said. As many as 40 other possible victims were identified but never found, he said.

This story was originally published May 16, 2017 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Human trafficking becoming a growing concern in Fort Worth."