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Authorities say human trafficking problem can’t be ignored in Chattanooga

TBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Margie Quin speaks Friday, January 8, 2016 at the 5th annual "Unite. Wear White" at the DoubleTree hotel. TBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Margie Quin speaks Friday, January 8, 2016 at the 5th annual "Unite. Wear White" at the DoubleTree hotel.

By Shelly Bradbury January 9, 2016 3 min read

TO LEARN MORE

To learn more about human trafficking issues and how to help or get help, visit the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s website ItHasToStop.com, or nonprofit organization sites EndSlaveryTN.org or SecondLifeOfChattanooga.org.

Investigators from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation wanted to catch sex traffickers in Chattanooga, so they posted three advertisements online featuring women who promised sex for money.

In about 10 hours, 145 people called the number on the ad.

“Men willing and asking to buy these women for sex,” TBI Special Agent in Charge Margie Quin said at an awareness event hosted by the Chattanooga Coalition Against Human Trafficking on Friday.

TBI agents worked with local law enforcement to turn those calls into arrests, and during a four-day sting in September and October, authorities arrested 20 men on prostitution charges.