An official of a nonprofit dedicated to educating and training truck drivers on human trafficking has emphasized the importance of keeping vigilant on Texas roads.

Kendis Paris, executive director of Truckers Against Trafficking, says that professional drivers play a key role in stopping human trafficking.

"As the eyes and ears of our nation's highways, professional drivers are invaluable in the fight against human trafficking,” Paris said. “Once educated and equipped, these men and women recognize and report potential trafficking cases in an effort to discover and disrupt these criminal networks.”

Krista Leeburg Melton, the Texas Attorney General's Office chief prosecutor for human trafficking ,told attendees at the National Association of Publicly-Funded Truck Driving Schools' regional conference at Del Mar College's West Campus in Corpus Christi earlier this month that truck drivers “go places and they see victims that no one else sees.”

According to Melton, knowing what signs to look for can save the life of a trafficking victim. She encouraged driving instructors in attendance to invite their students to join TAT.

The prosecutor helped establish TAT in 2009. She said its members have assisted in the identification of nearly 1,200 victims. There are reportedly 313,000 human trafficking victims in Texas by Melton’s estimate.

Paris said many individuals and entities statewide have joined the effort to stop human trafficking.

“We have seen the Texas Trucking Association, carriers of all sizes, CDL schools, truck stops, state agencies, law enforcement personnel and, recently, bus and energy companies all across the great state of Texas, take up this mantle and join one of the largest mobile armies of transportation professionals dedicated to ending this heinous crime,” she said.

The Attorney General’s Office calls human trafficking “modern-day slavery.” It formed the Human Trafficking and Transnational/Organized Crime Section in 2016.