Six people were arrested in Spanish Fort on Friday, March 6, on charges related to engaging or participating in prostitution in two simultaneous operations that included eight agencies.

A seventh suspect has pending charges while he recovers from injuries sustained while trying to evade arrest, local authorities said. The operations were the culmination of a two-day law enforcement training led by Skull Games, a veteran-led nonprofit focused on human-trafficking, along with The Little Tree Project, a victim’s advocacy group, and hosted by the Spanish Fort Police Department.

“Just like the dope game, they're changing their tactics and they're hiding the ways that they're doing it,” Spanish Fort Police Department Chief John Barber told GCM. “The training allows us the ability to understand the most current trends, and it helps our officers understand how to target it.”

According to a Facebook post by The Little Tree Project, which also led a training with SFPD October 2025, the group “provided intel support, survivor advocacy and equipped law enforcement leaders with practical tools for trafficking detection and response.” The third day of the training included Friday’s very real operations, taking what the agencies had learned the previous two days and putting it into practice.

In one operation, Barber said the work began on Thursday, culling through ads on sites known for soliciting prostitution and looking for indicators that those advertising services were being forced to perform them against their will.

“Really what we're trying to do is find victims and not just trying to find willing participants,” he said.

Simultaneously, a second operation was conducted at the same location to go after the buyers by posting and tracking fake ads from undercover law enforcement posing as prostitutes. It took very little time for buyers to start rolling in.

“I can tell you this: that we caught our first one right before lunch,” Barber said, “and before people could eat dinner, we had seven in custody.”

One suspect’s home address was listed as New Mexico, with others coming from Louisiana and Navarre, Florida, as well, according to Barber. He added that if the operation had been extended into the night, they likely would have arrested many more.

“We would've loaded up because people get active at night,” he said. “ We had other appointments for later on in the night, dozens others that were talking to us in different fashions.”

According to a Facebook post by Joseph Scaramucci, Director of Law Enforcement Training and Operations at Skull Games, "additional victims were identified, along with the traffickers exploiting them, and those investigations will continue.”

Despite the shock and concern that often accompanies these types of operations, Barber said this shouldn’t be an indication that Spanish Fort has an abnormal problem with human trafficking or prostitution.

“This can be set up in any town, any city, anywhere,” he said “This kind of crime is going to be mobile. It's going to come to you.”

A full list of suspects is expected to be released later today.

The training was given at no cost to the department from an anonymous donor.