(Police Reports - Photo Illustration/MetroCreative)

PARKERSBURG — A human-trafficking operation involving more than 100 law enforcement agencies led to the arrest last week of 132 people seeking to buy sex, including four Mid-Ohio Valley men.

Operation END-OHHT — led by the Ohio Attorney General’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigation Commission and which included Ohio’s eight human trafficking and major crime task forces — took place from Oct. 6 to Oct. 12 in 19 counties and led to the arrest of 110 “johns” and 22 individuals charged with felonies for seeking commercial sex with a minor or possessing narcotics.

Those charged included Mark Hart, 33, Marietta; Jeff Garrison, 61, Walker; Aries Golez, 43, Marietta; and Donald Thomas, 60, Washington, W.Va., according to an attorney general media release.

The release said Hart was arrested on one charge of engaging in prostitution and one felony charge drug trafficking. According to Washington County jail records, Hart was arrested Oct. 9. A total cash surety bond of $6,500 was paid for the two charges and Hart was released Oct. 10.

According to court records, Garrison’s full name is Jeffery Garrison, he has an address of 1265 Montgomery Hill Road, Walker, and a cash surety bond of $1,000 was set.

Garrison was arrested Oct. 11 on one first-degree misdemeanor charge of engaging in prostitution, according to jail records, and his bond was paid Oct. 12 and he was released. He has an arraignment scheduled for 9 a.m. today in Marietta Municipal Court, according to court records.

According to jail records, Golez was arrested Oct. 11 on one first-degree misdemeanor charge of engaging in prostitution and a cash surety bond of $1,00 was sent. The bond was paid and Golez was released Oct. 12.

The release said Thomas was charged with one count of either engaging in prostitution or solicitation, but does not state which one. No further information about Thomas or his charges was available and neither the Washington County Jail nor the West Virginia North Central Regional Jail show Thomas as an inmate at either facility.

The Southeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force was one of the more than 100 law enforcement agencies that participated in the operation. It is made up of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, which is the lead agency, and the Marietta Police Department, Belpre Police Department, Ohio Investigative Unit, Athens Police Department, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Noble County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Athens County Sheriff’s Office, Meigs County Sheriff’s Office, Washington County Prosecutor’s Office, Athens County Prosecutor’s Office, Noble County Prosecutor’s Office, Rescue and Restore Coalition, according to the release.

“We have to attack this scourge by curbing the demand,” Ohio Attorney General David Yost said in the release. “This operation aimed to hold accountable those who exploit survivors or fuel human trafficking by agreeing to pay for sex.”

Through the operation authorities identified 74 human trafficking survivors and referred them to health care and social service organizations and they seized more than $20,000 and other related evidence.