BRYAN, Texas — The Brazos Valley Human Trafficking Task Force was created at the beginning of 2023 with two goals in mind: help victims of human trafficking and assist law enforcement in taking down traffickers.
The task force consists of multiple law enforcement agencies, taking care of nine counties in the Brazos Valley. It’s led by Unbound Now at the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office.
Kellye Arnold is the coordinator of the task force and explains how the program serves a two-fold purpose.
“It is a ‘victim-centered model,’ so our first goal is to identify victims of human trafficking and to get them victim services, from there we help law enforcement find the traffickers and find the best prosecution as we can,” Arnold said.
Recently, Texas DPS announced seven adults were rescued in Brazos County as part of a 2-day operation thanks to the task force.
While this is one known case in the community, Arnold says statewide, the numbers are chilling.
“There are approximately 313,000 victims of human trafficking at any time. To really put that into perspective that’s enough people to fill Kyle Field three times over on a gameday,” Arnold explained.
Gabriel Sifuentez works as an investigator on the task force with the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office.
He says this isn’t something that only happens in big cities.
“There’s always been a need, and you can talk about it, whether it be large metropolitan areas or very small, rural communities – this happens all over the place. We see the opportunity here locally and we are taking advantage of it,” Sifuentez said.
Sifuentez says while it’s difficult to identify a victim of human trafficking, looking for certain signs can help.
“See something, say something, if you start recognizing that somebody may be acting strangely or you feel as if though something may be changing within your loved ones, you may want to reach out to us or to Unbound [Now] because it would be really beneficial for everyone involved,” Sifuentez said.