Santa Barbara County law enforcement officials say they arrested more than 20 people as part of a statewide crackdown on human trafficking.
Sting operations were conducted over a three day period this month in the Goleta and Santa Maria areas. Undercover officers posed as prostitutes to catch people looking for sex through online ads.
They also conducted operations to try to catch some traffickers, and help some trafficking victims. The operations were conducted by the Santa Barbara County Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes the County Sheriff's Office, County prosecutors, Santa Barbara Police, and Santa Maria Police.
The statewide crackdown on trafficking this month led to nearly 340 arrests.
