LAKE COUNTY, Ill. (WLS) — Twenty-seven men were arrested in a Lake County Sheriff’s Special Investigations Group operation meant to curb human trafficking, officials said.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the SIG group conducted a two-day human trafficking suppression operation this week, focused on reducing the demand for purchased sex.

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The operation targeted people trying to purchase sex through online classified advertisements, a tactic regularly used by traffickers to market human trafficking victims, the sheriff’s office said.

Undercover detectives posed as individuals offering sex for money, and when the offenders arrived at a Gurnee-area hotel and offered money for sexual acts, they were arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail.

Two of the offenders resisted arrest, the sheriff’s office said. An officer suffered minor injuries in one instance.

“These operations are about protecting victims and holding sex buyers accountable,” said Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg. “Suppressing the demand is a critical piece of dismantling the human trafficking pipeline. If there is no buyer, there is no market.”

Names of those arrested:
Abelardo A. Velasquez, 30, Beach Park
Robert L. Rowels, 39, Ingleside
James A. Kavinsky, 30, Niles
Jamir D. Holmes, 20, Zion
Mathew Reynolds, 23, Pleasant Prairie
Jesus S. Munoz, 35,Woodstock
Hakeem A. Moore, 22, Great Lakes
Jesus Navarrete-Vega, 30, Gurnee
Jesus M. Valdez, 28, Zion
Tyree R.L. Alexander, 32, Gurnee
Alexis M. Lopez, 31, Park City
Adrion E. Reynolds, 21, Park City
Eryk P. Plawinski, 26, Algonquin
Daevieon Garland, 21, Waukegan
Joshua L. Powell, 34, Libertyville
Daniel Corona, 29, Pleasant Prairie
Deybys Matute Moncada, 31, Zion
Charles A. Lintner, 35, Johnsburg
Argyll Piansay, 61, Gurnee
Andre L. Harevey, 41, North Chicago
Ryan P. Gibbs, 26, Libertyville
Ubaldo L. Sanchez, 28, Waukegan
Jonathan R. Litson, 45, Gurnee
Essodong Tchakpala, 25, Round Lake Beach
Adam S.W. Porwit, 26, Twin Lakes
Carl R. Weber, 35, Muskego, WI
John Garcia, 53, Kenosha