Authorities recover 35 ‘high-risk missing children’ in Mass. in anti-trafficking initiative amid World Cup – The Boston Globe

The statement did not identify anyone arrested in connection with the operation or provide any additional details on the children, such as how long they had been missing or their ages.

The announcement also did not explicitly state whether any of the recovered children had been forced into commercial sex work.

But the Marshals said Operation Yellow Card, a reference to a violation in a soccer game, involves “proactive measures” to identify and locate vulnerable missing children at an “elevated risk” of trafficking.

“The upcoming FIFA World Cup is a monumental event for Massachusetts, but large-scale international gatherings historically bring a heightened risk of predatory exploitation targeting our communities’ most vulnerable youth,” said Dennis Matulewicz, acting US Marshal for Massachusetts, in the statement.

“Operation Yellow Card represents our unyielding commitment to intercepting these threats and securing endangered children before they can be pulled into networks of trafficking and abuse,” he said. “This operation’s early success in recovering 35 high-risk missing children is a direct result of the extraordinary, seamless cooperation” between state, local, and federal law enforcement.

Working together, Matulewicz said, “we are sending an unambiguous message to those who seek to harm children: we are aware, we are acting, and we will never stop looking for those in danger, nor will we relent in pursuing those who prey on them.”

His words were echoed in the statement by Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden.

“The World Cup is bringing enormous benefits to our region, but it also brings the possibility of child exploitation,” Hayden said. “We and our partners will do everything in our power to prevent victimization and punish anyone who violates our laws.”

In recent weeks, officials and victim advocates have announced a series of public safety plans tied to the World Cup games here, with more than 2 million visitors expected to descend on the region.

Gillette Stadium in Foxborough — dubbed “Boston Stadium” during the World Cup — will host seven matches between Saturday and July 9, featuring teams from Haiti, Scotland, Iraq, Norway, England, Ghana, and France.

Ted Docks, FBI special agent in charge of the Boston division, has mentioned human trafficking at multiple recent press events related to World Cup Safety.

At one event that focused on trafficking, Docks was among more than a dozen members of law enforcement, activists for exploited people, and government officials who announced a public-awareness campaign and other efforts aimed at cracking down on trafficking for sex and labor.

They said they’re working especially with people in hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality or transit entities to spot and report trafficking, as well as asking the public to be aware and ready to call 911 or the national human-trafficking hotline, which is 1-888-373-7888.

The awareness campaign includes a billboard currently looming over busy Route 1 just south of Gillette: “Human trafficking” it says in large bold letters over close-ups of several eyes. “If you see something, say something.”

In the Marshals’ statement Thursday, Boston police Commissioner Michael Cox said his department has a unit devoted to fighting trafficking year-round.

“While this work is not new to us, we have increased the scope of our operations to manage the size of this summer’s events,” Cox said. “Our partnerships with the Massachusetts State Police, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigations Boston Division, United State Marshal Service, the Suffolk County Children’s Advocacy Center and the Support to End Exploitation Now Program are all critical. We also want to thank the hotels in Boston for their partnership.”

The Marshals statement also included praise for the operation from the Plymouth and Essex district attorneys as well as State Police Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble.

Gillette Stadium sits within the jurisdiction of the Norfolk County district attorney’s office.

“Every missing and vulnerable young person deserves safety and security and to be given the opportunity to live free from the threat of exploitation,” Noble said in the statement, “Human traffickers prey on our most vulnerable, targeting those who are often isolated or in crisis.”

Noble said the “men and women of the Massachusetts State Police, along with our local and federal partners, have remained laser-focused on the mission of Operation Yellow Card, to locate missing children from around Massachusetts and provide them with the support and protection they deserve.”

Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.

Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.