They're Moving Victims Across Your Jurisdiction Right Now. Can Your Systems Keep Up?
Human trafficking networks operate across state lines, digital platforms, and financial systems simultaneously. Traditional investigation tools weren't designed for this fight. Argus was.
Network Visualization
The Technology Gap That Traffickers Exploit
A tip comes in through the National Human Trafficking Hotline. A minor was seen at a truck stop three states away from where she was reported missing two weeks ago. The clock is ticking.
The Scope of the Problem
Federal audits have documented what investigators already know: DHS Inspector General found that ICE "did not adequately identify and track human trafficking crimes" due to fragmented systems and inconsistent data practices. The result? Two-thirds of trafficking cases go unsolved. Federal sex trafficking cases now average 38 months to resolve.
Fragmented Intelligence
Tips arrive through multiple channels, NCMEC CyberTipline, National Hotline, local reports, federal referrals. Each sits in a separate system. Connections between cases in different jurisdictions remain invisible.
Network Blindness
Trafficking operations involve dozens of participants: recruiters, transporters, buyers, landlords, financiers. Understanding who controls the network requires relationship analysis that basic tools cannot provide.
Financial Trail Opacity
Trafficking generates billions in illicit revenue. That money moves through cash businesses, prepaid cards, wire transfers, and cryptocurrency. Without integrated financial analysis, profiteers remain untouchable.
Evidence Fragmentation
Digital evidence from mobile forensics, online advertisements, hotel records, and financial transactions exists across multiple platforms. Prosecutors need unified, court-ready evidence packages.
Walk Through a Trafficking Investigation, Before and After Argus
Every trafficking investigation follows a pattern: initial tip, victim identification, network mapping, evidence building, and prosecution. At each stage, traditional tools create friction that slows response and reduces effectiveness. See how Argus transforms each phase.
The Tip Arrives
2:47 AM. A National Human Trafficking Hotline tip is forwarded to your task force. A caller reported seeing a young woman at a local hotel who appeared distressed. Partial license plate information and hotel name provided.
Without Argus
The tip sits in an email inbox until morning. An investigator manually searches multiple databases for the partial plate. No automated cross-referencing with other tips.
Pain Points
- -Tip waits hours for review
- -Manual database searches
- -No connection to similar reports
- -Critical hours lost
With Argus
The tip automatically ingests into the investigation management system, triggering immediate cross-referencing. Within minutes, the partial plate matches a vehicle flagged in a neighboring jurisdiction's tip from six days prior.
Capabilities
- Automated tip ingestion
- Real-time cross-referencing
- Entity profile generation
- Intelligent alerting
Purpose-Built for the Investigators Who Won't Give Up
Unified Investigation Management
Every piece of intelligence, tips, interviews, surveillance, digital evidence, financial records, lives in a single investigation workspace. No more logging into five systems to build a complete picture.
Built for the Ones Who Matter Most
Trafficking investigation technology has historically treated victims as evidence sources, data to be extracted, processed, and documented. Argus was designed differently. Victim-centered design principles inform every workflow.
Safety First, Always
Victim safety assessments generate before any investigative action that might alert traffickers. System safeguards prevent premature enforcement that could endanger victims.
Coordinated Services
When victims are identified, the system automatically notifies victim services coordinators and generates resource referrals. Survivor support is built into the workflow.
Privacy Protection
Victim information receives enhanced access controls. Audit trails document every access. Disclosure management redacts protected information appropriately.
Survivor Input
System design incorporated feedback from trafficking survivor advocates. Workflows reflect the reality that survivors know, not assumptions.
Real Investigations, Transformed
Traditional Approach
Separate investigations in each jurisdiction. No visibility into network scope. Leadership remains unidentified behind encryption.
With Argus
Entity extraction identifies operators across platforms. Network analysis reveals coordinated operation spanning twelve states. Financial investigation traces to single funding source. Coordinated federal prosecution dismantles entire operation.
Traditional Approach
Each agency investigates independently. Prosecution limited to local charges. Circuit continues in other jurisdictions. Leadership insulated.
With Argus
Geospatial analysis identifies circuit pattern. Shared workspace enables real-time intelligence sharing. Network mapping reveals organizational structure. Coordinated enforcement disrupts entire circuit. RICO prosecution targets leadership.
Traditional Approach
Limited local resources. No specialized protocols. Financial investigation not attempted. Workers reluctant due to immigration fears.
With Argus
Labor trafficking playbook guides evidence collection. Financial analysis reveals systematic wage theft. Victim services connects workers with immigration attorneys. Entity profiles link owners to similar violations in other states.
Connects With Your Existing Systems
No agency abandons existing systems overnight. Argus is designed to integrate with your current technology investments, enhancing their value while providing capabilities they lack.
Records Management Systems
Bidirectional sync with major RMS platforms
NCMEC CyberTipline
Automated tip ingestion and case creation
National Human Trafficking Hotline
Direct integration for tip receipt
Mobile Forensics Tools
Evidence ingestion from Cellebrite, Magnet AXIOM
Financial Records
Standardized ingestion from banking, wire transfers
Geolocation Data
Cell site, GPS, and license plate reader integration
Security That Meets the Standards
Trafficking investigations involve some of law enforcement's most sensitive information, vulnerable victims, confidential sources, and ongoing operations. Security isn't a feature; it's a foundation.
CJIS-Ready Architecture
Built to FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Security Policy requirements: FIPS 140-2 encryption, multi-factor authentication, comprehensive audit logging, least-privilege access controls.
28 CFR Part 23 Compliance
Criminal intelligence functions meet DOJ requirements: reasonable suspicion standards, data purge scheduling, dissemination controls, and access logging.
FedRAMP-Ready
Cloud infrastructure designed to FedRAMP High security controls, enabling federal agency deployment with Authority to Operate pathways.
StateRAMP Alignment
Architecture aligned with StateRAMP requirements, simplifying procurement and security review for state and local agencies.
The Networks Won't Wait. Neither Should You.
Every day trafficking networks operate is another day of exploitation. The technology gap that enables their success is a solvable problem. See how Argus transforms trafficking investigations.