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, according to FOX News.
The 905 arrests came through operations led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division, working in coordination with the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking and various federal, state and local law enforcement partners.
DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said that while fans across the country were enjoying the World Cup, ICE personnel were simultaneously working to dismantle human trafficking operations in host cities nationwide, crediting the effort to the Trump administration’s broader push against trafficking networks under Secretary Mullin.
One of the most significant cases emerged Friday in Dallas, where HSI agents arrested eight people accused of operating an adult bookstore that investigators say had secretly functioned as a brothel for more than two decades.
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The investigation, which began in 2023, uncovered evidence that thousands of adults and children were allegedly sold for sex through the business, according to DHS. Investigators identified dozens of victims connected to the case, including one who was murdered in 2024; a defendant in that killing was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
The eight suspects now face charges including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, with the case being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
In a separate case, HSI agents in San Francisco, working alongside the FBI and local police, rescued two girls believed to be trafficking victims. One of them had been reported missing from Bakersfield, California, since November 2025, according to DHS.
The trafficking-related arrests were part of a much larger security operation surrounding the tournament. DHS said its agencies also seized more than 700 unauthorized drones, inspected upwards of 19,000 vehicles heading toward stadiums and fan festivals, and confiscated hundreds of thousands of pieces of counterfeit World Cup merchandise valued at more than $33 million.
