BILLINGS — Montana state officials have announced the creation of its first full-time human trafficking team after the FBI reduced the time its lead agent spends on the issue by half.
The Billings Gazette reported Tuesday that a recently passed law provided about $520,000 for the work and gave law enforcement new tools to crack down on sex trafficking.
Attorney General Tim Fox says the two-person Billings-based team is comprised of a Division of Criminal Investigation Agent Andrew Yedinak and a Department of Justice internal hire.
Officials say the unnamed hire would not be identified to protect future undercover work.
The FBI says Special Agent Brandon Walter was the only federal-level law enforcement officer to work exclusively on human trafficking, but now splits his time between it and Indian Country cases.