European police arrested 70 people in a large-scale child trafficking operation in several European countries, which identified 53 miners as potential victims, Europol reported on Friday.
The European Criminal Police Cooperation Agency "has supported a pan-European operation against the trafficking of minors for the purposes of sexual exploitation, forced begging and labor exploitation," Europol said in a statement.
34 people arrested for "trafficking in human beings"
The operation resulted in the arrest of 34 people for "trafficking in human beings" and 36 others for "stealing, spreading sexual exploitation of children and facilitating illegal immigration" .
During investigations in June in 18 European countries, 206 potential victims were identified, including 53 minors, said Europol. More than 127,000 individuals, 63,800 vehicles and 1,100 locations were checked, the agency added. In particular, the police searched private properties, businesses, hotels, train stations, airports and border crossings.