60 missing children were rescued in what’s being called the ‘most successful’ child recovery operation in the history of the US Marshals

The Marshals called it Operation Dragon Eye, and it was held in the Tampa Bay area. 

Federal, state and local authorities collaborated to locate the missing children between the ages of 9 and 17 and the arrests of eight people. The children were classified as “critically missing.”

“Critically missing” children are defined as “those at risk of crimes of violence or those with other elevated risk factors such as substance abuse, sexual exploitation, crime exposure, or domestic violence.”

Those arrested are facing charges ranging from human trafficking, child endangerment, drug possession and drug trafficking.

Eleven of the rescued children were from St. Petersburg, Florida. Two of the suspects are also from St. Petersburg. 

Operation Dragon Eye is the latest multi-agency operation that has resulted in multiple trafficking arrests.

Earlier this month, a successful two-month investigation dubbed “Operation Showdown” resulted in the arrest of 76 people and the recovery of over 280 firearms, including 147 illegal machine gun conversion devices and 22 kilograms of narcotics. Authorities apprehended eight Venezuelan nationals, three of whom are suspected Tren de Aragua gang members.