In a sweeping and hard-hitting crackdown on child exploitation, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the successful rescue of 60 missing children in the Tampa Bay area as part of Operation Dragon Eye, which was spearheaded by the U.S. Marshals and involved 20 federal, state, and local agencies. The operation led to eight arrests, including one individual charged with human trafficking.
For context, a press release from the office of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, published on June 23, 2025, confirmed the success of Operation Dragon Eye, a collaborative effort between Florida law enforcement, U.S. Marshals, and several other agencies to bring home children who were described as “critically missing” and ranged in age from 9 to 17. Furthermore, U.S. Marshal William Berger confirmed that all of the rescued children were debriefed and provided with both physical and mental health care.
In the press release, Attorney General Uthmeier weighed in on the success of the operation, saying, “The real heroes behind this operation are the law enforcement who built and executed this mission. As your Attorney General and a father of three young kids, protecting children is my top priority.” He added, “If you victimize children, you’re going to prison, end of story.”
Furthermore, U.S. Marshal William Berger also commented on the operation, describing it as “unique” because of “the fact that underaged critically missing children ranging from age 9 to 17 were not only recovered but were debriefed and provided with physical and psychological care.” He continued, “This operation further included follow-up assistance in hopes that these youth will not return back to the streets to be further victimized.”
In addition, in a separate June 23, 2025, press release from the U.S. Marshals Service, Berger added more insights on the operation, saying, “The successful recovery of 60 missing children, complemented with the arrest of eight individuals, including child predators, signifies the most successful missing child recovery effort in the history of the United States Marshals Service; or to my knowledge, any other similar operation held in the United States.”
Moreover, in the same press release, Callahan Wals, Executive Director for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said, “The success of Operation DRAGON EYE is a testament to what’s possible when agencies unite with a shared mission to protect children.” He continued, “We’re proud to have supported the U.S. Marshals Service and our partners in Florida to recover these missing children and provide critical support to those who need it most.”
Additionally, according to coverage from Fox 13 News, Attorney General Uthmeier provided further insight on the operation during a June 23 news conference, emphasizing that it took a coordinated effort between multiple agencies and organizations to bring the children home. The attorney general said, “It took a lot of people to get this done,” adding, “What makes Florida the ‘rule of law state’ is we’re great at working together in collaboration across agency lines.”
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass, who was also present at the June 23 news conference, spoke out about the heavy emotional burden that all of the individuals involved with the operation had to face, along with the victims, saying, “The things that they have to see: they have to see the whole case,” Glass said. “They have to see everything that happens to these children, and we need to pray for them because they had to take that burden home.”
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