The Eastern District of Louisiana is observing National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, joining the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in efforts to combat human trafficking and support victims. The initiative aims to intensify operations, increase public awareness, and strengthen partnerships among federal, state, and local agencies.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated, “This Department of Justice is working tirelessly alongside our partners to dismantle human trafficking networks, help survivors, and protect vulnerable populations from being exploited. Under this administration we have seen an increase in human trafficking prosecutions, and during Human Trafficking Prevention Month we reaffirm our commitment to prosecuting traffickers and encourage Americans to report instances of human trafficking in their communities.”
United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem commented on the coordinated response: “Through the Homeland Security Task Force, President Trump is taking the fight directly to human trafficking networks and disrupting their modern-day slave trade while seizing their assets and arresting their kingpins and foot soldiers. The American people should not have to live in fear of cartels, gang bangers, and foreign terrorists preying upon the most vulnerable among us. The Homeland Security Task Force is the largest coordinated campaign against transnational criminal organizations in U.S. history, and I’m proud to co-lead it with Attorney General Bondi.”
FBI Director Kash Patel added: “During Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the FBI reiterates our work with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and national victim-based advocacy groups in joint task forces to protect our communities across the country. The horrifying reach of human trafficking spreads far and wide. Homeland Security Task Forces are fighting back to disrupt these perilous networks and put a stop to that reach. The FBI will continue our investigations and bring justice to those exploited by human traffickers."
U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle for the Eastern District of Louisiana said: “Human trafficking is a heinous crime that preys on society’s most vulnerable members. Although these crimes typically operate in the shadows, human trafficking can also occur in plain sight. Sadly, it often goes undetected and unreported because victims live in fear of physical abuse, threats, extortion, and other forms of intimidation. Our office, along with a committed team of federal, state, and local law enforcement, supported by engaged community partners, will continue to identify, investigate, and prosecute perpetrators of this insidious crime, and hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
In January 2025 an executive order directed DOJ and DHS leadership to establish Homeland Security Task Forces (HSTFs) nationwide with goals including ending criminal cartel activity within U.S. borders as well as targeting cross-border smuggling networks.
Since January 20th 2025 several notable actions have been taken by authorities in the Eastern District:
- In December 2025 a New Orleans schoolteacher was convicted for sex trafficking a minor.
- In August 2025 two men were indicted for conspiracy related to sex trafficking.
- In May 2025 two women pleaded guilty for roles in transporting a minor from Texas for commercial sex.
- In February 2025 a man received over twenty-two years’ imprisonment for sex trafficking minors through violence.
- In May 2025 another individual was sentenced for moving a seventeen-year-old across states for exploitation.
- In March 2025 one person was sentenced after advertising a fourteen-year-old online.
Federal agencies are increasing resources throughout January 2026 by prioritizing investigations at numerous locations across both federal facilities as well as border states; collaborating with transportation providers like AMTRAK; distributing information posters; allocating recovered funds from cases such as Backpage toward victim restitution; conducting outreach events at educational institutions; all designed around disrupting ongoing networks.
The HSTF began its major operational push on August 25th 2025 resulting in thousands arrested—including members from several major international criminal organizations—alongside seizures involving weapons cash narcotics.
