WINONA, Minn. – Police received a call about a plastic zip-lock on a recycling bin that concerned the caller as possibly a symbol left by a sex-trafficking scout. There has been social media chatter for months about zip tags to mark a person who is alone and an easy kidnap target. The tags have been left on car door handles and under windshield wipers. Police in several major cities have said there is no evidence pointing to such a sex-trafficking symbol. Winona police spokesperson Jay Rasmussen said there had been no earlier zip-lock situations locally. The Winona report came from an East Belleview Street address.
Zip-lock tales: “Untrue”
The Polaris Project, an anti-trafficking organization, has collected data for 20 years. Through a hotline and follow-up investigstions, Polaris reports not a single case of traffickers using zip-locks as markers to target vulnerable people. “These stories do more harm than good,” Polaris said. “Don’t share such posts. Instead, take a minute to learn how human trafficking really works. “ Polaris recommends its site.