OPERATION LIGHTING BUG

Over 30 missing children are miraculously rescued in trafficking sting in San Antonio

 

By Jack Toledo

 

Daily Mail

Oct 14, 2025

 

 

Operation Lighting Bug was a multi-agency initiative that targeted crimes against vulnerable youth and located missing children in San Antonio

 

Over 30 children were saved from child traffickers in San Antonio after authorities set up stings across the state to bust multiple repulsive operations.

Operation Lighting Bug was a multi-agency initiative that targeted crimes against vulnerable youth and located missing children in San Antonio, Texas, from July 28 through August 15.

It was a combined effort that resulted in several arrests, the recovery of sex trafficking survivors, and encouraged 120 additional missing juveniles to return home, resulting in cleared entries from state and national databases, according to a statement by the US Marshals.

The US Marshals offices in San Antonio, Del Rio, Midland, and Pecos joined forces with SAPD’s Missing Persons Unit, Special Victims Unit, covert units, and Street Crimes Unit, and members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force to help get these children to safety.

Together, the departments reviewed every juvenile in the Texas Crime Information Center and National Crime Information Center databases for the San Antonio area, according to the release.

With the information, they created strategies to recover the kids from across the state.

The staggering results of the mission resulted in three arrests for harboring a runaway and nine felony arrest warrants executed.

Officials were able to recover six trafficking survivors and opened five human trafficking investigations.

After the children were rescued, the Special Victims Unit detectives conducted interviews to identify if they were victims of any sort.

Survivors were given access to victim services through partner organizations, including the Health and Human Services agency, said officials.

Official statements mirrored the mission's objective - U.S. Marshal Susan Pamerleau for the Western District of Texas said: 'The safety of our children is the safety of our communities, and justice demands that we protect those who cannot protect themselves.

'Through Operation Lightning Bug, we reaffirm our promise to safeguard the most vulnerable and strengthen the safety of our communities.'

San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus said: 'Every suspect arrested, juvenile returned home, and survivor taken out of harm's way matters.'

'This operation demonstrates what can be achieved when law enforcement agencies unite to protect children.'

Kirsta Leeberg-Melton, founder and CEO of the Institute to Combat Trafficking, explained to Fox 5 that there is a larger issue of exploitation not only in Texas but across the nation: 'Trafficking is something that the city of San Antonio and the state of Texas and the nation have been grappling with for a considerable period of time.'

 

It was a combined effort that resulted in several arrests, the recovery of sex trafficking survivors, and encouraged 120 additional missing juveniles to return home

Survivors were given access to victim services through partner organizations, including the Health and Human Services agency

 

'(Children) are easy pickings for traffickers to take advantage of. They exploit these needs by offering those items and then calling in debts and putting those kids in a position where they are able to exploit them for sex or for labor.'

Leeberg-Melton further explained to the outlet that trafficking is far more widespread than people believe and explained how it has evolved and weaponized the internet: 'What hasn’t really been around is people’s understanding of that crime and their knowledge that it’s happening everywhere!

'As technology advances, traffickers…are early adopters and adapters of technology. The internet allows them to connect with victims and buyers far beyond their local area.'

She added that trafficking is not a new issue: 'Trafficking is the exploitation of men, women, and children for forced sex or forced labor by a third party for their profit or gain. That’s been around forever.'