FBI says Operation Iron Pursuit led to more than 350 arrests and the identification of over 200 child victims

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Operation Iron Pursuit, a nationwide law enforcement effort in April, led to the arrest of more than 350 people and the identification of over 200 child victims.

Stan Costin, an FBI section chief who leads the bureau’s work on crimes against children and human trafficking, said the goal of the operation was to arrest as many suspected offenders as possible and to identify and locate victims. Costin described the work as a high‑tempo investigative "sprint" that field offices combine into larger, coordinated action.

Costin placed Iron Pursuit alongside earlier, similar efforts and said the name was chosen to signal the bureau’s persistent focus on the issue. "We called it Iron Pursuit really to show the unyielding, unbending focus that we have on this effort," he said.

Field offices tailored tactics to local conditions. Costin said some offices conducted undercover online chats to identify suspects, while others developed investigations from tips provided by the public and from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). He said the criminal division at headquarters largely let local offices set priorities so they could act on the most relevant leads.

As an example, the FBI’s Philadelphia field office targeted producers of abusive material and individuals traveling into its area of responsibility to exploit children. Supervisory Special Agent Lehi Booth, who leads Philadelphia’s violent crimes against children and human trafficking squad, said the operation focused on individuals who often had multiple victims across regions. "We targeted individuals, many of whom had multiple victims, not just regionally, but victims around the country," Booth said.

Costin and other officials described the program’s scale. He said the Violent Crimes Against Children program involves more than 500 FBI employees, supported by hundreds of task force officers who work on child exploitation and human trafficking task forces.

Officials emphasized that arrests and rescues are a team effort that relies on partnerships with local law enforcement and non‑governmental organizations. "We all have a different piece of the rope, but we're all pulling the same way," Costin said, describing joint investigative and victim‑service work.

The FBI also highlighted the role of specialized victim services. Booth said child and adolescent forensic interviewers from the bureau’s Victim Services Division (VSD) are essential to building cases: "Not every agent that works crimes against children can be an expert at interviewing young children in a way that we need it done forensically to further the case. So we could not do these cases without our child forensic interviewers." FBI victim specialists — VSs — connected rescued children with referrals and coordinated with partner organizations to provide ongoing support after arrests.

Officials urged the public to report suspected abuse or exploitation. The episode lists resources including fbi.gov/ironpursuit and fbi.gov/vcac, and gives the FBI tip line as 1-800-225-5324 and the online tip portal at tips.fbi.gov. Costin said public reporting is essential because "the only way that is going to stop is if some action is taken and they're able to be removed from that threat."

The podcast episode closes with links and instructions for listeners to access more information and other episodes of Inside the FBI.