People first heard about Lewis Arthur and his group, the Veterans on Patrol (VOP), in June of 2018 when they discovered a child sex trafficking camp in Tuscon, Arizona, believed to be run by gangs or cartels crossing the border from Mexico. The incident went viral when local authorities “refused to acknowledge” that the camp was for child sex trafficking. The local authorities were uncooperative and even threatened VOP to remove them from the community in order to stop them from continuing their operation in the area. According to VOP’s public advisory:
“Our Sheriff’s Office informed our Teams that Mark Napier does not respond to calls requesting him to come out and the Sheriff’s Department doesn’t respond to calls within Tucson City Limits. Please call 520-351-4900 and demand our Elected Official to listen to his Constituents which include both Federal and State Employees who have taken huge risks to stand up against this evil. CALL and SHARE.”
According to Lewis Arthur, they alerted the local law enforcement and Homeland Security to do some investigation but didn’t respond and cater to their request. VOP, however, was supported by the community and was allowed to stay and patrol the area against the cartels so that further sexual abuse on children will be prevented. As they continued to patrol the community for weeks, VOP also claimed that they have shut down more human trafficking activities, including drug trafficking activities in the area.
During this incident, VOP wrote to Pima County and requested the authorities to declare a County State of Emergency for:
“The expansion of human trafficking, child rape, child torture, and child murder…
The failure of the Federal Government to secure newly discovered Child Sex Camps and investigate Cemex’s dealings with a “Company” who has turned over Leased property to both Local and Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The failure of the Federal Government to enforce existing Laws and Regulations which prohibits a spent and abandoned mining property from being unsecured.”
The group also requested assistance from the sheriff department in “searching the I-19 Corridor for a network of underground holding cells and hidden Child Sex Camps”. According to VOP’s appeal:
“We request our Elected Sheriff to utilize his Constitutional Powers to prevent the Federal Government from taking any action against VOP and its Allies who have joined in the SAR Operation. We request our Elected Sheriff to lead all negotiations as they relate to VOP’s occupation of the Private Property Owner and Leasee who are complicit through neglect or willful participation that lead to the trafficking, rape, suspected abduction, and potential murder of children (and possibly women.)”
VOP started as a group that helps prevent homeless veterans from committing suicide. According to research, veterans die more by suicide than by combat.
VOP also helped opioid addicts by rescuing them from the streets. VOP members are not armed and they don’t use violence in their operations, according to Lewis Arthur. When doing their operation against sex traffickers, they first go to law enforcement and authorities in the community to inform them about the problems that the group is going to deal with and then recruit volunteers to help them.
Today, VOP expanded and continues to operate for homeless veterans and children that are vulnerable for sex trafficking. The group exists in different states in the US, helping communities in shutting down sex trafficking and illegal drug operations. To learn more about Lewis Arthur and VOP, watch his full interview here:
