Trafficking suspected inside Goose Creek home | News | postandcourier.com

Officers from the Goose Creek Department along with investigators from the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) are investigating possible human trafficking involving minors inside a home in the Boulder Bluff subdivision.

Information provided shows that officers were first notified by DSS on Jan. 27. The incident report shows the person suspected, allowed juveniles to live in the home. The report alleges there is drug use and prostitution inside the home as well as at other locations.

The incident report did not show any arrests made in the case at the time and it did not identify the home where the alleged activity was occurring.

Recently the state AG's office released new numbers on the amount of human trafficking in the state. The office is one of several that make up the South Carolina Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force consists of numerous agencies and advocacy groups all over the state.

The latest report showed a rise in sex trafficking. The numbers also showed that there has been 458 percent increase in labor trafficking. Locally Berkeley and Charleston Counties has a share. Berkeley has three trafficking cases pending in court and Charleston had 14 incidents in 2022.

Also the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division reports the agency supported 416 cases involving human trafficking in the state in 2022. The cases included 399 minor victims, the report showed. There was also a 128 percent increase in calls to the hotline reporting suspected incidences.