Seven human trafficking victims found in Southaven as part of AG’s participation in nationwide operation

Seven human trafficking victims discovered.

Key points

• Mims was first elected to the Legislature in 2003 to represent Southwest Mississippi in portions of Adams, Amite, Franklin, and Pike counties.
• Victims recovered as part of the operation received treatment and services from the Mississippi Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Transformation Garden, and Tabernacle Southaven.
• This 67th human tracking recovery operation conducted by the AG's Human Trafficking Task Force took place on September 10.
• Over the course of all operations conducted by the AG's Office, 402 victims have been recovered, of which 24 were minors, and 205 arrests were performed.
• Thursday's operation took place throughout 22 states, where 79 victims were located and 125 arrests were produced.

Seven human trafficking victims discovered in Southaven as part of AG's participation in nationwide operation. By: Jeremy Pittari – September 15, 2026. (Photo from AG Lynn Fitch on Facebook).

Seven victims of human trafficking were recovered in Mississippi as part of a nationwide multiagency effort conducted last week.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch's Office confirmed Monday that the operation was conducted in Southaven, in conjunction with her office's Human Trafficking Task Force, DeSoto County Sheriff's Department, Southaven Police Department, and the Alcoholic Beverage Control.

"My office is committed to taking criminals who traffic people off our streets and equally committed to setting victims on the road to recovery, " Fitch remarked.

For context, the operation was conducted in partnership with the Human Trafficking Training Center's nationwide call to fight exploitation.

Thursday's operation took place throughout 22 states, where 79 victims were located and 125 arrests were produced. Five of the 79 victims recovered were younger than 18.

"Developing partnerships with law enforcement agencies both within Mississippi and across the country is a priority for the Mississippi Attorney General's Office, and we are proud to be a part of building this network of dedicated law enforcement agencies working to end human trafficking, " Fitch continued.

Human trafficking can include forced labor and coercion to engage in commercial sex acts.

For context, the United Nations' International Labour Organization estimates that 27.6 million individuals are the victim of some sort of human trafficking throughout the globe, 77% of which fall into the forced labor category. Within the 23% that are coerced into commercial sex acts, 78% are women. Regarding the Author(s).

Jeremy Pittari is a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast. Born and raised in Slidell, La., he moved to South Mississippi in the early 90s. Jeremy earned an associate in arts from Pearl River Community College and went on to attend the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor's of arts in journalism. A week after Hurricane Katrina, he began an internship as a reporter with the community newspaper in Pearl River County. After graduation, he accepted a full-time position at that news outlet where he covered the recovery process post Katrina in Pearl River and Hancock Counties. For almost 17 years he wrote concerning local administration, education, law enforcement, crime, business and a variety of other topics. Email Jeremy: [email protected].

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In short, seven human trafficking victims found in Southaven as part of AG’ s participation is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.