ICE arrests more than 900 suspected human traffickers during FIFA World Cup, rescues 180 victims: DHS

Federal agents arrested more than 900 suspected human traffickers and rescued 180 victims — including 30 children — during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday.

The 905 arrests came during operations led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, working alongside the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking and federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, DHS said.

“While Americans and international visitors were enjoying the FIFA World Cup, the men and women of ICE law enforcement were hard at work cracking down on human trafficking operations in FIFA host cities across the country,” DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “Federal law enforcement arrested more than 900 suspects and rescued nearly 200 victims. Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, we are dismantling human trafficking networks.”

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One of the biggest cases unfolded on Friday in Dallas, where HSI agents arrested eight people accused of running an adult bookstore that investigators said had secretly operated as a brothel for more than 20 years.

The investigation began in 2023 and found that thousands of adults and children were allegedly sold for sex through the business, according to DHS. Investigators identified dozens of victims. One victim was murdered in 2024, and a defendant in that case was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

The eight suspects face charges that include conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, and money laundering conspiracy. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

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In another case, HSI agents in San Francisco, working with the FBI and local police, rescued two girls believed to be victims of human trafficking. One of them had been missing from Bakersfield, California, since November 2025, according to DHS.

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The trafficking cases were part of a broader security effort during the World Cup.

DHS also said its agencies seized more than 700 unauthorized drones, inspected more than 19,000 vehicles headed to stadiums and fan festivals, and confiscated hundreds of thousands of counterfeit World Cup merchandise items worth more than $33 million.