MACON, Ga. — According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, human trafficking is defined as the illegal exploitation of a person.
The FBI has a human trafficking division where a task force investigates sex and labor trafficking and domestic servitude.
Last month, the FBI released its human trafficking and drug offenses special report. The report shows there were over 8,700 cases reported nationwide.
And between 2013 -2022, 51.46% of reported human trafficking cases were reported in the 16-state southern region, which includes Georgia.
Tony Thomas, the spokesperson for the FBI's Atlanta office says the south has more cases because it's the largest region and authorities are more likely to report cases.
"That is partly because in the south, law enforcement is really focused on this. There are a lot of task forces down here and law enforcement agencies are looking at it, which brings up the numbers as well as we go through all this. It is also partly just because of population," Thomas said.
The FBI reports human trafficking is often linked to drug crimes and traffickers may use drugs to bait their victims. Most victims are between the ages of 13 and 19 years old.
In January 2023, the Atlanta airport began running a public service announcement and posting it on monitors. It explains the signs of human trafficking and how to speak up if you see it happening.
According to Thomas, he says it is important to pay attention to changes in behavior.
"Frequent missing incidents are running away from school with no real explanation of why that is going on," Thomas said.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline says they received more than 650 signals and almost 230 of them were victims or survivors of human trafficking.
In August 2017, we spoke to Cynthia Smith with Out of Darkness Middle Georgia, an anti-trafficking group. She says it's a problem across the state.
"It happens in Atlanta, Macon, Warner Robins. Anywhere there's people, there's potential for people to be trafficked," Smith said.
In 2019, Georgia launched the first-of-its-kind human trafficking prosecution unit. It allows the attorney general to work closely with local, state and federal law enforcement to rescue victims and put buyers and sellers in prison.
"There are large population centers, the world's busiest airport, a lot of different factors, major interstates all run through the south through Atlanta through Macon," Thomas said.
Thomas says as of July 15, there are over 1,600 pending human trafficking cases nationwide.