- May 14, 2024
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Law enforcement officers have arrested 98 people in connection with the child sex trafficking ring Mayor David Alfin's son, an FBI agent, was investigating when he was killed while serving a search warrant in 2021.
The FBI and the Australia Federal Police announced the arrests on Aug. 7.
The global “Operation Bakis” was a continuation of the investigation FBI Special Agents Daniel Aflin and Laura Schwartzenberger were pursuing when a suspect shot and killed them both as they served a search warrant at a Sunrise, Florida home in February 2021. The suspect also shot and injured three other agents, then killed himself.
Authorities arrested 19 people in Australia, saving 13 children. FBI legal attaché for Australia Nitiana Mann said another 79 people were arrested in the United States throughout the investigation, resulting in 45 convictions.
Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin said he has been asked if the arrests bring him closure.
“I'm not sure there's such a thing really as closure,” he said. “The pain and the tragic loss of family members that almost everyone has experienced … It's not something that ever closes or disappears.”
The redeeming factor, Alfin said, is the awareness the arrests bring to child and human trafficking.
Public awareness that trafficking and child abuse can happen anywhere, Alfin said, will help the FBI and other agencies stop those crimes.
“The arrests force citizens and governments from all over the world to acknowledge this heinous crime exists and goes on every single day, even though it is mostly invisible to the everyday person," he said.
Alfin said Palm Coast and Flagler County residents can help support agencies and investigations by both thanking the people who work in and around law enforcement — officers, first responders, veterans — and staying vigilante.
“We have to look out for one another,” he said, “By creating awareness, you help the FBI gain additional resources.”
