When law enforcement in the Philippines received a tip about boys and young men being trafficked for sex on Twitter and messaging apps, they reached out to The Exodus Road for support in verifying the information.
The Exodus Road’s team has become a leader in this kind of cyber investigation. They built a case based on evidence gathered on Twitter, private messages, and digital financial transactions. In the process, they pieced together a picture of a man who was grooming teenage boys and young men, slowly earning their trust and then coercing them into providing sexual content to customers online. Those details were exactly what law enforcement needed.
Officers staked out the trafficker’s house — a seemingly innocuous home that served as the site of his online trafficking operations. It took most of a day for them to be able to confirm that the trafficker was present. As soon as they knew, they moved in on the location.
Law enforcement arrested the trafficker and seized his computer, full of evidence that will support the forthcoming court case. Meanwhile, The Exodus Road’s team supported two young men who were being trafficked there by offering them the essential comforts of food, transportation, and transition into aftercare services.
Our teams’ continued ability to lead the way in innovative counter-trafficking work in the digital world is only possible because of you. Thank you!
