Operation Coast to Coast has been sweeping human trafficking rings in multiple states, and one major thrust landed in Austin, Texas. Law enforcement teamed up across jurisdictions and media crews embedded with the raid to document how these illicit massage parlors are used as fronts. This is a national problem that puts victims at risk and demands tougher action from leaders who value law and order.

Officials say the sting rescued more than 60 victims, including juveniles, underscoring how ruthless these networks can be. Police describe the operations as organized and transnational, not isolated criminal acts. Conservatives will point to these raids as proof that border and immigration enforcement must be tightened to cut off the supply lines that feed human traffickers.

Below is the video footage from the Austin raid and related coverage.

Here are some key excerpts from that video:

(Unclear)… embedded with the Austin Department as they raided illicit Chinese massage parlors, part of a massive operation targeting human traffickers and organized crime networks. It was just one of many human trafficking stings taking place across the country, in Operation Coast to Coast, which saw more than 60 victims rescued, including juveniles.

Investigators still do not have a full accounting of where every victim came from, whether recruited abroad or taken inside the United States, but the reach looks broad. That uncertainty makes it harder to dismantle the whole network rather than just one storefront. Lawmakers should expect to press for better intelligence-sharing and tougher prosecutions.

Austin police officer: Most of these places have deep, complex roots with overseas, Asian-Chinese criminal enterprises. We’re going to close this one down today. But it’s going to be very easy for them to open up another one anywhere else in Austin or anywhere.

Cutting off a single parlor often only buys time; organized rings adapt and resurface elsewhere. Some of these operations run openly in China, where a different tolerance for such enterprises lets them flourish and export their tactics. Here, they cloak themselves, but the harm to victims and communities is the same.

Here in the United States, they aren’t quite so brazen, but they are still operating.

Fox News’ Brooke Taylor: Hi Bill, good morning, well, we exclusively embedded with the Austin Police Department while they raided these illicit massage parlors. Now, they weren’t just going after traffickers and these organized crime networks. They were also trying to rescue as many victims as possible.

At least this head of the beast has been removed.

It’s essential to recognize that China, as a nation and a society, doesn’t share the same perspective on human rights as the Western world. As evidence, witness their treatment of their Uyghur minority. As pointed out above, these kinds of things are common in China, and it should come as no surprise that the Chinese organized crime rings would look at the United States and see a lucrative market.

There are still big questions about the ringleaders and how they operate here. Officials have repeatedly described links back to China, but concrete names and connections remain murky as investigations continue. Republicans will argue the failures at the border during the Biden administration made it easier for traffickers to exploit gaps and hide in plain sight.

The video captures one successful raid, but rescuing victims is the start, not the finish. These networks will keep testing gaps unless policy and prosecution change.