NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. – Five men have been arrested in connection with a human trafficking operation that involved over 150 victims, officials said Wednesday.
A task force conducted a six-month investigation that looked at a business called Cape Fear Escorts/Entertainers, which recruited women as dancers and forced them into prostitution, New Hanover County Sheriff’s Lt. J.J. Brewer stated in a news release.
Christopher Todd Evans faces more than 160 charges related to human trafficking and narcotics violations and was being held with bail set at $3.75 million.
Four others — Christopher Slate Arrowood, Dustin Lee Anderson, Michael Hunter Snow and Jesse Earl Bright — were being held on charges connected to promotion and profiting from prostitution, with bail for each set between $50,000 and $750,000.
Chandler David Anderson also faces felony charges related to promotion and profiting from prostitution but is still wanted, according authorities.
The Coastal Carolina Human Trafficking Task Force that made the arrests includes the FBI, N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies.