Human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in the world and a group of local organizations want to stop it in eastern North Carolina.

The Pitt County Human Trafficking Task Force met Monday at Sheppard Memorial Library to discuss community and law enforcement efforts to stop the trading and trafficking of human beings for commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor.

Det. Chauncey Congleton, of the Pitt County Sheriff's Office's special operation unit, said economics is the driving factor behind the increase in human trafficking, particularly in the sex trade, over the last few years.

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